Currently the leading public health agency in the United States-the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-is going through a period of administrative crisis unlike any other. The situation worsened on Tuesday when five high-ranking employees announced that they would be ”retiring” from their posts due to what have been described as retirements. Resignations from members of its top departments could not come at a worse time for the CDC, which is now facing politically difficult personnel cuts and restructuring in the Trump administration, and at a time of increased worry about the agency’s future.
While not officially announced, the departures were confirmed by many CDC sources. There are significant leadership gaps at CDC as a result of the resignation of five of the directors of its numerous centers. A period of intense churn at the top levels of the CDC has been punctuated by this spate of exoduses, following a series of other exits in recent weeks. In total, roughly one-third of the agency’s leadership have departed or indicated their plans to do so.
Susan Monarez was also nominated by the White House to be the new CDC head simultaneously with these resignations. A former employee of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), Monarez has been serving as the agency’s head since January. While views on Monarez’s nomination were mixed, it is still unclear how much of a role it played in these top officials’ decision to resign.
All public health activities within the scope of the United States lie under the CDC, whose headquarters is located in Atlanta. It’s the organization that has the most number of employees under its umbrella with about 13,000 people in it and budget core allocation of more than $9 billion, but it also serves one of the most important functions in keeping diseases and other health hazards under control. Yet, for many CDC employees, the future of the agency is unknown due to recent moves made under the Trump administration to restructure the agency and even cut jobs.
Dr. Karen Remley, director of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities; Sam Posner, director of the Office of Science; and Leslie Ann Dauphin, director of the Public Health Infrastructure Center, are among the officials stepping down. These individuals were in charge of some of the most critical functions of the CDC, including policy, research, and health equality programs.
These resignations coincide with gross ongoing negotiations over the facility cut-off and reorganization plans-underway within CDC. The White House has purported an offer which will greatly affect the capabilities of the agency to accomplish its mission, regarding workforce retrenchment. This has bred a feeling of uncertainty among public health professionals and lawmakers, most of whom wonder whether or not the CDC can efficiently function in such an event.
Concerns over the long-term effects of these leadership transitions have been raised by health policy professionals. According to Jason Schwartz, a health policy scholar at Yale University, CDC executives are facing “enormous” challenges, and the agency’s survival is now in doubt. The CDC faces a future full of uncertainties regarding its capacity to address public health emergencies as a result of the retirement of seasoned officials.
These sentiments were seconded by Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who said that “CDC needs reform” and expressed eagerness to hear Monarez’s vision for the agency. Whether the CDC will be able to get back on track and continue to be a leader in public health will be determined in the next several months.
The CDC is in deep trouble, and its future is uncertain. The agency’s capacity to safeguard public health in the event of emerging health threats is threatened by constant controversy regarding its structure, budget, and staff.
