In June 2020, Trump appointed two individuals to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s offices in Atlanta. Neither of the appointees has a public health background, and senior CDC staff, who learned of the appointments the week prior to their arrivals, were not informed about what their roles at the agency would be. According to administration and CDC officials, the appointments were part of a larger effort to control messaging after several leaks that angered the administration. Those same officials also maintained that the two appointees were sent to “keep an eye on” CDC Director Robert Redfield and other agency scientists.
In fall 2020, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis sought to interview the appointees in connection with a larger probe into the Trump administration’s attempts to interfere with CDC communications, including the weekly Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and Covid guidance for schools.