RFK Jr.’s Top Deputy, Acting CDC Director Departs Health Agencies

The top deputy to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was also acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is no longer serving in those roles.

Jim O’Neill is no longer the deputy health secretary or acting CDC director, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and CDC websites.

The HHS webpage that previously featured O’Neill’s biography and a CDC webpage listing the agency’s leadership team were updated on Feb. 16. The CDC director position is now listed as vacant.

O’Neill’s profile on X states that he formerly worked for HHS.

HHS and the CDC did not respond to requests for comment by publication time.

The Epoch Times reached out to the White House for comment on the CDC’s leadership but did not receive a response by publication time.

The Senate confirmed O’Neill in June 2025 to become the No. 2 official at HHS. One month later, senators confirmed Susan Monarez, who does not have a medical degree, as director of the CDC. Kennedy and President Donald Trump fired her in August 2025 over disagreements on how to handle possible updates to vaccine guidance. Trump then chose O’Neill, who also does not hold a medical degree, to lead the CDC in an acting capacity.

O’Neill aligned with Trump and Kennedy on vaccines, including approving a proposal to narrow how many vaccines the CDC widely recommends for children. He had also backed Trump’s calls for vaccine manufacturers to split combination vaccines against measles and other diseases into separate shots.

In late 2025, the Trump administration brought in Abraham, who had been Louisiana’s surgeon general. Abraham was critical of the CDC for spreading misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic and has panned the choice to promote COVID-19 vaccination for healthy children.

Under orders from Kennedy, the CDC stopped recommending COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women. Later, O’Neill adopted advice from CDC advisers and said people should only receive a COVID-19 shot after consulting with a health care professional and taking into account factors such as age.

O’Neill’s exit comes after the Trump administration elevated Chris Klomp, deputy administrator at HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to chief counselor at HHS. John Brooks, another deputy administrator at the centers, was tapped to be senior counselor to the division.

Kennedy also selected Food and Drug Administration officials Kyle Diamantas and Grace Graham as senior counselors there.

“I am proud to elevate battle-tested, principled leaders onto my immediate team—individuals with the courage and experience to help us move faster and go further as we work to Make America Healthy Again,” Kennedy said in a Feb. 12 statement.