Former CDC Leaders Criticize Trump Administration’s Public Health Approach

A panel of former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials gathered at the Georgia state capitol on Tuesday to sharply criticize the Trump administration’s approach to public health as the nation prepares for flu season.

Dr. Deb Howery, who resigned last week as CDC deputy director and chief medical officer, said she was troubled by the administration’s direction. While she credited the first Trump administration with competently overseeing the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in 2020, she argued that the second administration has relied less on science and more on ideology. “What I was not ready for was to have decisions made not based on data and science,” Howery told lawmakers.

Her resignation followed weeks of turmoil within the CDC, including a frightening incident last month in which hundreds of rounds of gunfire were fired outside CDC headquarters by a man reportedly angry over his own COVID vaccination.

Dr. Dan Jernigan, who stepped down after 31 years at the CDC, including leadership of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, also spoke out. He expressed concern about budget reductions and staffing cuts under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “I feel that they can make it through, but I can’t tell right now given all the cuts—the cuts to staffing, the cuts to resources, and the undercutting of science,” Jernigan said.

Both former officials urged the administration to prioritize evidence-based public health practices to ensure Americans’ safety heading into the fall and winter.

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