Alright, so earlier this week, Lisa Blunt Rochester threw a curveball at Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during his testimony to the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee by asking, “Who is the acting CDC director?” Kennedy, the Health and Human Services secretary, confidently replied with the name “Matt Buzzelli,” whom he hailed as a “public health expert.” Despite Kennedy’s assertion, doubts linger about whether the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention actually has an acting director in place at the moment.
The CDC’s website doesn’t mention an acting director, and CDC staff members have not been notified about Buzzelli taking on the role. Since Kennedy’s appearance before the committee, the HHS communications office has been evasive when questioned about the appointment of Buzzelli. On the CDC’s leadership page, Matthew Buzzelli is listed as the agency’s chief of staff, with Debra Houry at the top as the deputy director for program and science, as well as the chief medical officer. Houry briefly served as acting director before Susan Monarez was named to the position by the new administration.
Monarez, a career civil servant with a biosecurity background, was nominated for the director’s role in March after President Trump withdrew the previous nominee’s name. The confusion arises from whether Buzzelli meets the criteria to serve as acting director under the Vacancies Act. The statute dictates that the acting director must either be the “first assistant” or another government employee who is Senate-confirmed, or an officer/employee from the same agency who has been there for at least 90 days prior to the vacancy. Buzzelli’s appointment as CDC chief of staff was around mid-February, and his eligibility for the acting director position is up for debate.
Not really sure why this matters, but it seems like the CDC is in a bit of a leadership limbo. With Monarez awaiting Senate confirmation and Buzzelli’s role as acting director under scrutiny, the agency’s direction remains unclear. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like there should be more transparency around who is running such a crucial organization during these challenging times. Let’s hope the situation gets sorted out soon for the sake of public health and safety.
