RFK Jr Deputy Jim O''Neill Takes Interim Control of CDC

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. installed his deputy Jim O'Neill as acting CDC director following the removal of the agency's career leadership. O'Neill, a venture capitalist and associate of Peter Thiel with no public health credentials, assumed control of the agency during a mass exodus of CDC epidemiologists and public health officials. The transition came as the agency was monitoring an emerging respiratory illness cluster in the Southeast.