As the Trump administration prepares to nominate a new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, insiders say they worry the nominee will only further undermine trust in the nation’s top health agency, even as outbreaks of measles escalate and the federal government’s vaccine policies face resistance.
President Donald Trump is expected to name the candidate on Truth Social by Wednesday. If confirmed by the Senate, the director will inherit an agency marked by the yearlong chaos of mass layoffs, a deadly shooting and hollowed-out leadership.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the CDC’s current acting director, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, have long been critical of the CDC, largely focusing on Covid missteps, but haven’t offered ways to support or strengthen the agency, CDC staffers said.
“I don’t disagree with the thought that we’ve lost a lot of trust, but I think it falls a little flat for leaders to ask us to rebuild trust,” one senior official said. “It’s a two-way street.” The person asked not to be identified for fear of retribution.
“They keep saying over and over again that CDC has a lot of work to do to earn back the public’s trust,” said another scientist who also asked not to be identified. “I don’t think blaming the civil service employee is the way to fix that.”
The White House and the Department of Health and Human Services have been mum on potential nominees. The Washington Post reported that Mississippi health director Dr. Daniel Edney is on a short list of names.
Dr. David Margolius, Cleveland’s director of public health and a member of the Big Cities Health Coalition, said he had a chance to work with Edney during a CDC-led meeting of health officials from across the nation in 2024.
“He was really thoughtful, and it was clear that what drove him was his desire to improve the health of folks in his home state,” Margolius said. That kind of focus on public health would be a key attribute for the next CDC head, he said. “We don’t need a TV personality. We don’t need a social media spokesperson. We need someone who is collaborating and putting the health of the residents of the country first, not their ego.”
Other potential nominations circulating within CDC rumor mills include former director Dr. Robert Redfield, who served during Trump’s first term. He recently spoke to people living in Ave Maria, Florida, about an ongoing measles outbreak in that community, encouraging them to get vaccinated.
Relentless outbreaks have put the U.S. close to losing its measles elimination status, although childhood vaccination — and the CDC, in general — don’t appear to be the White House’s focus ahead of the November midterm elections. Kennedy has instead highlighted efforts to drive down drug prices, the new dietary guidelines and America’s reliance on ultra-processed foods, policies driven by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
‘Spinning its wheels’
Beyond the director, other top jobs remain unfilled, including principal deputy director and chief medical officer.
Those positions are critical in part because they prioritize which projects get funding and resources.
“Usually, the director comes up with what the main priorities are, and then the entire agency gets shifted to be able to achieve those priorities,” said Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who previously served as the head of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “But the agency’s had no new priorities. It’s just sitting there, spinning its wheels, putting out fires. You have a captainless ship.”
Susan Monarez has been the only person to hold the title of CDC director during Trump’s second term, holding the position for just 29 days last summer. Monarez was fired, she said during congressional testimony, because she refused to cave to Kennedy’s demands to rubber-stamp vaccine recommendations without scientific backing.
Her ousting led to a cascade of high-profile resignations at the CDC, including chief medical officer Dr. Debra Houry; Dr. Daniel Jernigan, who headed the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases; and Daskalakis. None of those roles has been filled.
Prior to Trump’s second term, presidents simply named their own CDC director and didn’t need Senate approval. That changed with the CDC Leadership Accountability Act of 2023, which meant, as the name suggests, to boost accountability at the agency following missteps during the pandemic.
In March 2025, the White House withdrew Trump’s first nomination for CDC head, former Rep. Dave Weldon, the night before his confirmation hearing. It appeared he would not have the votes to be confirmed, sources said at the time.
Once Monarez left the position, the White House had 210 days to announce another nominee, per federal law. That deadline is March 25.
The CDC has had several acting directors since last summer, most recently Bhattacharya, who also serves as head of the National Institutes of Health. While Bhattacharya has been critical of the CDC and pandemic-related lockdowns, his tone appears to have softened.
“There’s a tremendous amount of professionals at the CDC that care deeply about public health,” Bhattacharya said during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on March 17. “What I found was that there was a real openness to discuss things where there are disagreements within public health — a real sense of professionalism.”
As staffers await new leadership, projects have floundered, many in a holding pattern awaiting funding.
“Things sit on people’s desks for months, just waiting for the director’s office to sign off,” the senior official said. Supplies are expiring or getting thrown out as staff wait for word on whether work can move forward, employees told NBC News.
It’s critical that whoever is ultimately nominated, CDC staffers said, work with career scientists instead of against them. At the very least, one person said, it should be “someone who isn’t going to make life more miserable than it already is.”
The nominee will need to be confirmed by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions before the appointment is official.
“There’s a lot of people who are just ready to get back to work,” a senior official said. “The American public deserves a world-class CDC. I just really hope we get leadership that believes in that, as well.”
