CDC’s No. 2 Official Steps Down

One of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s top officials has suddenly resigned, the latest change in staffing at Trump administration health agencies.

Dr. Ralph Abraham, the principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), resigned effective immediately, the CDC said in a statement on Feb. 23.

The reason provided for the resignation was “unforeseen family obligations.”

“It has been an honor to serve alongside the dedicated public health professionals at the CDC and to support the agency’s critical mission,” Abraham said in a statement.

The CDC did not immediately respond to a request for more information.

Abraham was appointed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in late 2025. He had been Louisiana’s surgeon general and a representative in Congress in the past.

The position of CDC deputy director was listed as vacant on the CDC’s website on Feb. 23, as was the position of deputy director for program and science and chief medical officer.

Several lower-level managerial positions, such as the head of the CDC’s Washington office, are also vacant.

Jim O’Neill, who was acting CDC director and deputy health secretary, resigned earlier in February from those positions. A White House official said the administration plans to tap O’Neill as head of the National Science Foundation, a federal agency that promotes scientific advancement.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health—part of HHS, like the CDC—has been made the new acting CDC director.

Bhattacharya has not responded to requests for comment.

The only Senate-confirmed CDC director in history, Susan Monarez, was terminated over the summer after clashing with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the issue of vaccines. O’Neill, whom senators confirmed as Kennedy’s top deputy, took over the agency shortly after that.

Monarez and some CDC officials who departed after her firing have said that officials are not running the agency properly. HHS officials have said those officials were blocking important work, including revamping the CDC’s vaccine recommendations and vaccine injury reporting systems.

Abraham, as Louisiana’s top health official, was critical of COVID-19 shots. Also, under his leadership, Louisiana officials stopped promoting mass vaccination. Abraham said in a letter that “government should admit the limitations of its role in people’s lives and pull back its tentacles from the practice of medicine” and that restoring public trust “requires returning medical decisions to the doctor-patient relationship, where informed, personalized care is guided by compassion and expertise rather than blanket government mandates.”