White House isn’t ready to nominate a new CDC director | CNN

The Trump administration had been expected to nominate a new director for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week, but the White House is not ready to name its pick for the post, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who is also director of the US National Institutes of Health, “will continue to oversee the CDC by performing the delegable duties of the CDC director,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement, though he may no longer hold the title of acting director, which he has had since last month. HHS is seeking new candidates for CDC director as well as continuing to weigh some of those who were already under consideration, according to an HHS official. A federal law called the Vacancies Act limits the amount of time an acting officer can serve in place of a Senate-confirmed official to 210 days. Thursday will mark 210 days since the most recent CDC director, Dr. Susan Monarez, was fired by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In an all-hands CDC meeting Wednesday, Bhattacharya said he expected “that there will be a permanent director nominated by tomorrow, but if not, I do not expect that much will