The White House quickly named a new leader of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pushed out Director Susan Monarez this week.

Jim O'Neill, a senior Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) official with deep ties to President Trump donor Peter Thiel, will take over the agency amid an exodus of its leadership and panic across the public health world.

The longtime Silicon Valley investor has been a top Kennedy deputy as the Trump administration has sought to enact its "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) agenda, while slashing staff and funding across health agencies.

Kennedy and the White House have said the CDC needs to align with the administration's MAHA priorities and shift away from a focus on vaccines.

In his first public statement since being chosen, O’Neill, who does not come from a medical background, called the CDC the "beating heart of public health in America."

“During the previous administration, CDC lost public trust by manipulating health data to support a political narrative. The Trump administration is rebuilding trust and refocusing CDC........

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