President Biden is appointing Mandy Cohen, a former Obama administration official and health commissioner for North Carolina, as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Cohen will replace Rochelle Walensky, who led the Atlanta-based agency during the tumultuous COVID-19 crisis and decided to leave after Mr. Biden declared an end to the public health emergency around the coronavirus.
Mr. Biden on Friday hailed Dr. Cohen as an accomplished public health official who dealt with COVID-19 at the state level and paved the way for an expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare in North Carolina, a purple state that debated the topic for years.
“Dr. Cohen is one of the nation’s top physicians and health leaders with experience leading large and complex organizations, and a proven track record protecting Americans’ health and safety,” Mr. Biden said.
The CDC director’s position is not a Senate-confirmed job, but the recent omnibus bill will require the position to receive consent from senators starting in 2025.
Dr. Cohen will most likely draw scrutiny over state shutdown policies during COVID-19. In recent weeks, conservatives pointed to clips of Dr. Cohen lightheartedly discussing how she navigated policies with other state leaders, including whether they would allow professional football to continue.
Dr. Cohen will take over the CDC while it is undergoing an overhaul.
The agency’s reputation took a hit during the pandemic, with complaints of political interference during the Trump administration and shifting advice after Mr. Biden arrived, including confusion about whether vaccinated persons could get sick and doubts about whether cloth masks were effective against the virus.
The CDC published data on the virus that tended to be weeks or months old, making it hard to get a full grasp of the situation or forward-looking advice.
Dr. Walensky launched a reform plan, titled CDC Moving Forward, in April 2022 to address the lessons learned from COVID-19 and improve how it communicates with the public.
Dr. Cohen previously served as chief operating officer and chief of staff of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under President Barack Obama. She played a key role in the implementation of Obamacare.
She graduated from Cornell University and received her medical degree from Yale School of Medicine. She also holds a master’s degree in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health.
She is married to Sam Cohen, a health care regulatory attorney. They have two daughters.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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