March 25 (Reuters) - The White House will delay naming a new director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention past a Wednesday deadline and the current acting director, Jay Bhattacharya, will continue to oversee the agency, a health department spokesperson said.
The CDC has been in a state of uncertainty since U.S. President Donald Trump fired Director Susan Monarez in August after she objected to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s proposed vaccine policy changes.
She was replaced
by Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill, who in turn was replaced by National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya in February.
According to federal law, Senate-confirmed positions are only supposed to have acting replacements filling the role for a maximum of 210 days. For the CDC position, that period would have ended on March 25.
"Dr. Bhattacharya will continue to oversee the CDC by performing the delegable duties of the CDC director," the spokesperson said, adding that Kennedy and HHS chief counselor Chris Klomp are working with the White House on the CDC director search.
Klomp said last week that he was encouraged by the interviews he had done for the CDC director position.
The Washington Post reported the delay earlier in the day.
The Post reported on Sunday that about six candidates, including former Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher, Mississippi health director Daniel Edney and cardiologist Joseph Marine, were being considered for the role.
(Reporting by Michael Erman in New Jersey and Mariam Sunny and Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Daphne Psaledakis, Rod Nickel and Lincoln Feast)
