CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is leaving, White House says

Last summer, Walensky launched a reorganization of the CDC, acknowledging that its “performance did not reliably meet expectations” during the pandemic.

She said she wanted to modernize the agency and rehabilitate its reputation.

In a statement, Biden said, “Walensky leaves CDC a stronger institution, better positioned to confront health threats and protect Americans.”

In an internal email announcing her departure, Walensky wrote that she would step down on June 30.

She gave no specific reason for the decision to resign, writing that “at this pivotal moment for our nation and public health, having worked together to accomplish so much over the last two-plus years, it is with mixed emotions that I will step down.”

Walensky touted the administration’s Covid response, the CDC’s decision to declare racism a serious public health threat and its efforts to contain mpox among the accomplishments on her watch.

“I have never been prouder of anything I have done in my professional career,” she wrote.

Still, her resignation blindsided many health officials throughout the administration, many of whom had expected her to stay on at least through the end of the year — if not the end of Biden’s first term.

And Walensky in her email offered little in the way of a transition plan, writing only that “more information will be shared with you about next steps for CDC.”