In government, the practice is generally known as “dual-hatting,” which is when one official takes on the responsibilities of more than one job simultaneously. Donald Trump has embraced the tactic with a bit too much enthusiasm in recent months (at one point last year, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was serving in four positions at the same time), and this week, the president added to his list. The New York Times reported:
The director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, will take on the additional role of acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two administration officials said on Wednesday.
Dr. Bhattacharya will continue to run the N.I.H., according to the officials, who insisted on anonymity to speak about personnel decisions before President Trump announces them. He will serve until Mr. Trump appoints a permanent director — a position that now requires confirmation by the Senate.
MS NOW has independently confirmed that Bhattacharya will, at least for now, hold both roles.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is in dire need of real leadership. Last summer, less than one month into Dr. Susan Monarez’s tenure as the center’s director, the White House fired Trump’s own choice for the job and failed to nominate a permanent successor.
She was temporarily replaced by Jim O’Neill, a former associate of billionaire tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel. This was not a step up: O’Neill has no background in medicine, science or health care, and he endorsed weird and ineffective Covid-19 treatments during the pandemic.
That O’Neill is being replaced might seem like a step in the right direction, though Bhattacharya’s background doesn’t exactly inspire confidence, either.
In October 2020, as the pandemic continued to claim the lives of thousands of Americans every day, the public was confronted with a highly controversial joint statement called the “Great Barrington Declaration.” While the statement endorsed protections for the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, it also argued that public health officials should pursue a radical version of “herd immunity” by allowing Covid to spread untrammeled through the rest of the population.
When Trump effectively stopped trying to deal with the Covid crisis, White House officials said it was because he liked the policy indifference recommended by this “declaration.”
The document was signed by Bhattacharya, who was rewarded with the National Institutes of Health gig after the president returned to power. Bhattacharya, who has no formal training in public health, has used his position in unfortunate ways, which naturally has led the administration to ask him to lead the NIH and CDC simultaneously.
Even if he were a sensible choice — he’s not, but speaking hypothetically — this new example of dual-hatting would still be tough to defend.
“[P]ublic health experts, including former C.D.C. officials, say it will be nearly impossible for Dr. Bhattacharya to run both the nation’s biomedical research agency and its public health agency. The C.D.C. has been hobbled by funding cuts, firings and resignations; many of its career leaders are gone,” the Times’ report noted.
Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, told the newspaper that the arrangement is “a recipe for disaster.” Dr. Debra Houry, a former CDC chief medical officer who left the agency in August, added, “Both agencies are fundamentally important in the U.S., and you need someone at CDC who can be dedicated to ensuring we are safe from outbreaks and other health threats. … CDC and NIH may collaborate on different programs, but they have a fundamentally different approach, with CDC being boots-on-the-ground and prevention focused.”
If that weren’t quite enough, there are also logistical considerations to bear in mind: The CDC is in Atlanta, while the NIH is roughly 650 miles north, in Bethesda, Maryland.
