Washington Post: Biden to call for resignation of U.S. surgeon general Jerome Adams and appoint acting surgeon general

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Last month, Biden announced he would appoint Dr Vivek Murthy as Surgeon General, a role Murthy held for about two years under the Obama administration until he was asked to step down by the House. Trump’s Blanche in 2017.

The Post reported that the new Biden administration may as soon as Wednesday ask Adams to step down and appoint an acting surgeon general, according to two people familiar with the decision.

President Donald Trump’s White House had asked Murthy to resign with about two years remaining in his standard four-year term, a dismissal some Democrats criticized at the time as politicizing the post.

Trump then appointed Adams, an anesthesiologist who previously served as Indiana’s state health commissioner, to that post in 2017. Adams’s four-year term was due to expire in September.

He will be one of several Trump officials involved in President’s Covid-19 task force asked to step down as Biden’s team takes charge of the federal response to the pandemic.

Adams declined to comment on the Post. A spokesperson for Biden referred the Post to Murthy’s impending appointment as surgeon general.

The Post also reported that by choosing an interim surgeon general, the Biden administration will bypass deputy surgeon general Erica Schwartz, a career public servant who plans to retire due to her death. Schwartz did not respond to the Post’s request for comment. A senior Trump administration official confirmed to the Post that Schwartz is retiring.

If confirmed by the US Senate, Murthy would play a key role in the administration’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Murthy has been one of Biden’s primary health advisers since the campaign. He was on Biden’s public health advisory committee when the Covid-19 pandemic first hit the United States and served as co-chair of Biden’s coronavirus advisory board during the presidential transition.

Biden’s incoming administration is hoping to enter a “new phase” in the federal government’s response to the coronavirus, including appointing a new task force and removing the nickname “Operation Warp Speed” under Trump for the vaccination effort.

Biden chose Dr David Kessler as the scientific director of the Covid response, succeeding Moncef Slaoui, who led the effort under the Trump administration. Slaoui has agreed to stay another month to “ensure a smooth transition,” a transition official from Biden told CNN.

Biden asked Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to also serve as chief medical adviser on Covid-19.

CNN’s Arlette Saenz, Jeff Zeleny and Kate Sullivan contributed to this report.

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