Skip to main content

Five Top CDC Leaders Step Down Amid Wave of Departures

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on March 27, 2025.

By I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, March 27, 2025 -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is facing major changes, with five senior leaders stepping down Tuesday.

These exits follow three other recent departures, meaning that as many as one-third of the agency’s top leaders have now left.

The departures were announced at a meeting of senior managers but were not announced to the public.

The Associated Press confirmed the departures through two CDC officials who asked to remain anonymous.

The CDC has about two dozen centers and offices. The leaders stepping down include:

Other recent departures include the CDC's top communications officer, its chief operating officer and a former deputy director.

Based in Atlanta, the CDC has a $9 billion budget and more than 13,000 employees, plus a similar number of contract workers.

The agency is responsible for tracking and responding to disease outbreaks and other health threats.

“The challenges for these individuals to do their jobs on a daily basis must be enormous,” said Jason Schwartz, an associate professor at Yale School of Public Health who studies government health agencies. “The future of CDC is under threat, by any measure. It’s understandable why individuals may decide to move on rather than see the agency diminished in its works, and its resources, and its ability to do its job.”

Earlier this week, the White House announced Susan Monarez as its nominee for CDC director. It's unclear if that decision played a role in the resignations.

A previous nominee, Dr. David Weldon, was pulled from consideration just before a Senate hearing because he lacked votes for confirmation.

Adding to this tension, more than 500 probationary employees were laid off in February.

Although judges later ordered that those workers be reinstated and paid during administrative leave, some say they still haven’t been allowed to return, The Associated Press reported.

“It would be foolhardy to predict what the CDC will look like” in a few months, let alone a couple of years, Schwartz said. But it’s understandable why senior leaders “might not want to sign up for that,” he added.

Sources

  • The Associated Press, March 25, 2025

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

Body Mass Index (BMI): What It Tells You — And What It Doesn’t

SUNDAY, May 4, 2025 — Body Mass Index, or BMI, is a number that reflects the relationship between your height and weight. It's widely used in healthcare and public health to...

What You Should Know About ALS, Also Known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease

SATURDAY, May 3, 2025 — Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease based on the iconic 1930s New York Yankee baseball player – is...

HHS, NIH Unveil Vaccine Initiative to Protect Against Future Pandemics

FRIDAY, May 2, 2025 -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health announced a new initiative called "Generation Gold Standard" to...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.