Overview
- HHS said Wednesday that NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya will keep running the CDC’s day-to-day work under delegated authority after the White House let the 210‑day nomination deadline pass without naming a permanent director.
- Under the Vacancies Reform Act, an acting title expires after 210 days, but agencies can delegate most duties to a senior official and, once a nomination is filed or cycled, extend de facto control for long stretches, according to congressional legal guidance.
- In an all‑hands meeting Wednesday, Bhattacharya told staff he has “scientific” disagreements with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and said he will continue to strongly urge parents to vaccinate their children against measles.
- Career employees described stalled projects, unfilled leadership posts and low morale as measles and other vaccine‑preventable diseases rise, with some staff also voicing fear that a policy known as Schedule F could make it easier to fire them.
- The search team is weighing candidates such as Mississippi health chief Daniel Edney, former Kentucky governor Ernie Fletcher and Johns Hopkins cardiologist Joseph Marine, but any nominee must win approval from a Republican‑led Senate HELP Committee under confirmation rules added in 2023.