Jim O’Neill, a top deputy to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will serve as acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to an administration official who requested anonymity to discuss a personnel change that has not been formally announced.
The director of the nation’s top public health agency, Susan Monarez, because she wasn’t “aligned with the president’s mission†and refused to resign, according to Monarez’s lawyers said she was targeted for standing up for science.
Four other agency leaders resigned Wednesday. “We knew ... if she leaves, we don’t have scientific leadership anymore, †one of the officials, . “We were going to see if she was able to weather the storm. And when she was not, we were done.â€
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How could the changes at the CDC affect average Americans?
The was apparently triggered by conflict over changes in policy regarding recommendations for COVID-19 vaccinations that could make getting a shot
The Food and Drug Administration approved on Wednesday but limited their use for many Americans — and removed one of the two vaccines available for . The new jabs from three manufacturers are approved for all seniors, but the FDA narrowed their use for adults and children to those with high-risk health conditions, such as asthma or obesity.
The changes present new barriers to access for millions of Americans, who would have to prove their risk, and others who may want the shots but suddenly no longer qualify.
“These decisions, made without supporting evidence, reflect a troubling pattern by HHS of interfering in the relationship between patients and their healthcare providers and limiting access to vaccines — public health tools proven to save lives and reduce costs,†said Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota infectious disease researcher.
In addition, the disruption at the CDC could jeopardize many local health services undergirded by the agency’s support and expertise, noted Dr. Anne Schuchat, a former principal deputy director of the CDC, who left the agency in 2021.
That could mean tracking a simmering infectious disease outbreak, such as measles, or outbreaks of foodborne illness.
CDC gets new acting director as leadership turmoil leaves agency reeling
Jim O’Neill, a deputy to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will serve as acting director of the CDC. An administration official confirmed the move, requesting anonymity to discuss a personnel change that has not been formally announced.
The administration wants O’Neill to replace Susan Monarez, who is fighting her removal just a month after starting the job. The situation has left the CDC in chaos and has caused bipartisan concern as Kennedy pushes anti-vaccine policies.
The turmoil comes before a key meeting of an advisory committee that Kennedy has reshaped with vaccine skeptics. Two Republican senators have called for oversight, and some Democrats want Kennedy fired.
Democratic governors condemn ‘chaotic federal interference in our states’ National Guard’
As Trump threatens to expand federal control by deploying the National Guard to additional cities, 19 Democratic governors issued a joint statement Thursday condemning his actions.
“The President’s threats and efforts to deploy a state’s National Guard without the request and consent of that state’s governor is an alarming abuse of power, ineffective, and undermines the mission of our service members,†the governors said.
The statement comes as Trump hints that his next targets for federal intervention may include two heavily Democratic cities: Chicago and Baltimore.
“This chaotic federal interference in our states’ National Guard must come to an end,†the governors added.
Admiral says US ships are heading toward Venezuela amid drug cartel concerns
Adm. Daryl Caudle, the Navy’s new chief of naval operations, told reporters in Virginia on Thursday that U.S. ships are heading into waters off South America to support “Venezuelan operations and missions†that involve drug cartels.
Speaking at a Navy base in Norfolk, Caudle cited the concern that some Venezuelans are taking part in large-drug operations. But he declined to provide specifics about the U.S. military’s goals, saying much of the information is classified.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked by a reporter Thursday about whether Trump was considering military strikes on Venezuela. She said she wouldn’t get ahead of Trump but said the president “is prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice.â€
She reiterated the Trump administration’s position that President Nicolás Maduro is not the legitimate leader of Venezuela and has been indicted on accusations of trafficking drugs into the U.S.
Trump blocks various federal agencies from participating in labor unions while rolling back collective bargaining rules
Trump’s latest executive order is meant to prohibit union organization at many federal agencies, including subdivisions of the Commerce Department and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as federal entities like the National Weather Service, NASA and the U.S. Agency for Global Media.
It is part of a broader Trump administration push to limit labor unions’ influence among the federal workforce, and to restrict public sector employees’ ability to collective bargain for higher wages and benefits.
Trump’s efforts are meant to undo the work of his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, who took executive action to encourage federal worker unionization and strengthen collective bargaining in the public sector.
More than 30 groups urge the federal government not to use Musk’s AI model
A coalition of pro-democracy and tech watchdog groups is calling on the federal government to block the use of billionaire Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence large language model across federal agencies.
°Õ³ó³Ü°ù²õ»å²¹²â’s to the Office of Management and Budget organized by Public Citizen and Color of Change says Grok, the model developed by Musk’s AI startup xAI, has a “recurring patterns of ideological bias, erratic behavior and tolerance for hate speech.â€
Musk’s “truth-seeking†AI model has faced some recent controversies, including when it made a in July.
The groups said that track record makes Grok incompatible with an OMB memorandum that says the federal government can’t use AI systems “if proper risk-mitigation is not possible.â€
“No federal agency should be a proving ground for a product this unstable,†Public Citizen’s J.B. Branch said in a statement.
Musk's AI company did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Rubio heads to Latin America on his fourth trip in Western Hemisphere as top US diplomat
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Mexico and Ecuador next week, making his fourth foreign trip in the Western Hemisphere since becoming Trump’s top diplomat in January.
Rubio, who has already traveled Latin America and the Caribbean twice and twice to Canada this year, will return to the region to discuss Trump administration priorities including stemming illegal migration, combating organized crimes and drug cartels and countering what the U.S. believes is malign Chinese behavior.
Rubio’s “fourth trip to our hemisphere demonstrates the United States’ unwavering commitment to protect its borders, neutralize narco-terrorist threats to our homeland, and ensure a level playing field for American businesses,†the State Department said Thursday.
Rubio will be in Mexico City and Quito between Sept. 2 and Sept. 4, the department said.
US announces $825M arms sale to Ukraine for extended range missiles and guidance systems
The Trump administration has approved an $825 million arms sale to Ukraine that will include extended range missiles and related equipment to boost its defensive capabilities as U.S. efforts to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia appear stalled.
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a partner country that is a force for political stability and economic progress in Europe,†the department said in a statement.
The sale was announced as Russia continues to step up attacks on Ukraine even after Trump met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska earlier this month to press for a negotiated settlement to the three-year-old conflict.
Gavin Newsom blasts Trump’s efforts to ‘militarize’ US cities
The California Democrat also called out crime rates in GOP-led states, holding up posters comparing their murder rates to California.
“If the president is sincere about the issue of crime and violence, there’s no question in my mind that he’ll likely be sending the troops into Louisiana and Mississippi to address the unconscionable wave of violence that continues to plague those states,†he said at a news conference in Sacramento.
The Trump administration deployed the National Guard and Marines after immigration protests broke out in June. Trump recently activated the and threatened to as part of a law enforcement crackdown.
“This country needs to wake up to what’s going on – not just the authoritarian tendencies but the authoritarian actions by this president,†Newsom said.
Vance says of Guard deployments that Trump is not ‘forcing this on anybody’
As the vice president promoted Trump’s tax breaks and spending cuts law in Wisconsin, he was asked about the administration’s deployment of the National Guard in the nation’s capital, which he defended.
Vance also pointed to Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser’s comments Wednesday that having more federal law enforcement officers on the capital’s street had helped.
Trump "is not going out there forcing this on anybody, though we do think that we have the legal right to clean up America’s streets if we want to,†Vance said.
Vance said the president wants mayors and governors across the U.S. to invite the federal government to come help them address crime in their cities and questioned why any of those officials have objected to a federal presence.
“Why is it that you have mayors and governors who are angrier about Donald Trump offering to help them than they are about the fact that their own residents are being carjacked and murdered in the streets? It doesn’t make an ounce of sense,†he said.
Vance says ‘there is going to be a time for politics’ and talking about preventing mass shootings
The vice president, who was speaking in Wisconsin to promote Trump’s sweeping tax breaks and spending cuts legislation, said a prayer on stage for the victims of Wednesday’s .
While Vance spoke about the power of prayer, he said he was not going to speak Thursday about what might be done to prevent such a shooting.
“There is going to be a time for politics and there is going to be a time to figure out how to prevent this stuff from happening, how to make these shootings less common in our country,†Vance said. “And I’m not going to speak about that now.â€
Chicago prepares for possible military deployment as details remain scarce
Chicago’s top leaders are planning for the to the nation’s third-largest city even though they don’t know what to expect.
The Trump administration has floated the idea of dispatching the National Guard to help with crime. But details are scarce.
City leaders say they’re preparing for more immigration arrests, a focus on homeless encampments and street patrols.
“We don’t want to raise any fears,†Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said Thursday.
City workers were circulating cards in neighborhoods with heavy immigrant populations, which offer tips on what to do in case of an encounter with an immigration agent.
Snelling asked for more communication on plans involving law enforcement.
What polling shows about Trump’s pivot from immigration to crime
Trump’s recent focus on crime in D.C. and other big cities came as views of his handling of immigration — the early focus of his second term — had been souring, a new AP analysis shows.
Trump’s approach to crime is now a clear strength for him, according to new AP-NORC polling.
About half of U.S. adults approve, higher than support for his handling of immigration. Only 44% currently approve of his approach to immigration, down slightly from 49% in March. Trump has deftly used similar tactics throughout his political career to dominate news cycles and redirect public attention from sometimes politically damaging topics.
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Kennedy won’t say why CDC director was ousted
The health secretary, speaking at a press conference in Texas, only took one question from reporters on the chaos unfolding at the CDC.
Confirming that CDC Director Susan Monarez was “let go†he warned that more firings could be on the way.
“There’s a lot of trouble at the CDC and it’s going to require getting rid of some people over the long term, in order for us to change the institutional culture,†Kennedy said.
He declined to elaborate on what was behind Monarez’s ousting after mere weeks on the job.
Trump spokesperson criticizes both Putin and Zelenskyy after latest big Russian assault on Kyiv
Trump “was not happy about this news, but he was also not surprised,†White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said of Russia’s Thursday air assault on Kyiv that left at least 21 dead and injured dozens more.
Leavitt noted that Ukraine has also launched effective assaults on Russia’s oil industry in recent weeks.
“Perhaps, both sides of this war are not ready to end it themselves,†Leavitt said. “The president wants it to end, but the leaders of these two countries…must want it to end as well.â€
White House says Trump fired the CDC director himself
During her briefing with reporters, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Susan Monarez was asked by the administration’s health secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr., to resign and she said she would but “then said she wouldn’t.â€
“So the president fired her, which he has every right to do,†Leavitt said.
Leavitt said a statement released by Monarez’s lawyers “made it abundantly clear that she was not aligned with the president’s mission to Make America Healthy Again.†She said a replacement for Monarez would be announced by Trump and Kennedy soon.
Leavitt said she didn’t have knowledge about more changes coming to the CDC, but noted that top officials left when Monarez did.
Leavitt thanks DC mayor for cooperating with the White House
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt thanked Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser for her “cooperation and her willingness to help us make DC safe and beautiful.â€
Bowser has tried to show deference to Trump while also recognizing anxieties within the city.
She said Tuesday that while the federal surge has helped reduce crime, it has also led to a “break in trust between, police and community, especially with new federal partners.â€
Trump will deliver address to United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the president’s planned speech to the annual gathering of global leaders at the start of her Thursday news briefing.
Trump administration subs Human Rights Council again
The United States will not take part in an upcoming council review of its human rights record scheduled for November, wrote Tressa Finerty, the U.S. chargé d’affaires in Geneva, in a letter to the U.N. human rights chief, Volker Türk.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter, which was dated Thursday.
The council examines the rights records of all 193 U.N. member countries about every four or five years, and the U.S. is due for its next review on Nov. 7.
Finerty said the decision followed an executive order in February by Trump announcing that the United States was , and that engagement in the review “would imply endorsement of the Council’s mandate and activities.â€
The first Trump administration, citing the council’s alleged anti-Israel bias and refusal to reform, , before the Biden administration brought the U.S. back. The United States still took part in the review process during Trump’s first term.
Obama: Trump’s expansion of military force on US soil puts ‘the liberties of all Americans at risk’
Former President Barack Obama lamented the “federalization and militarization of state and local police functions†in a social media post on X.
He shared a New York Times Opinion interview on the Trump administration’s growing comfort in wielding federal and local law enforcement to conduct its sweeping campaign of arrests against immigrants and criminals and whether it indicates a slide into authoritarianism.
The former president wrote that the “erosion of basic principles like due process and the expanding use of our military on domestic soil puts the liberties of all Americans at risk.â€
Trump fires Democrat on Surface Transportation Board ahead of huge rail merger
Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Board member Robert Primus said on LinkedIn that he received an email from the White House last night terminating the position he’s held since he was appointed by Trump in his first term.
Primus said the firing is “deeply troubling and legally invalid,†so he plans to continue serving until he’s blocked and then will consider legal challenges.
The board is set to consider Union Pacific’s acquisition of Norfolk Southern in the next two years. It must then decide whether to approve the nation’s first transcontinental railroad, which would reduce the number of major freight railroads in the U.S. to five.
RFK Jr. sang the CDC director’s praises less than a month before pushing her out
Trump’s health secretary was effusive in his praise of Susan Monarez when he helped swear her in as director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In an Aug. 1 post on X, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., wrote: †is a public health expert with unimpeachable scientific credentials. I have full confidence in her ability to restore the ’s role as the most trusted authority in public health and to strengthen our nation’s readiness to confront infectious diseases and biosecurity threats.â€
Marco Rubio say US ‘remains available’ for nuclear talks with Iran
The U.S. Secretary of State welcomed the announcement Thursday by the U.K., France and Germany to reimpose sanctions on Iran for failing to adhere to the 2015 nuclear deal.
The European countries triggered the “snapback†mechanism outlined in the original deal that would again freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran and penalize any development of its ballistic missile program, among other measures. The sanctions are expected to further squeeze Iran’s reeling economy.
“The United States appreciates the leadership of our E3 allies in this effort,†Rubio’s statement said, while adding that the U.S. “remains available for direct engagement with Iran – in furtherance of a peaceful, enduring resolution to the Iran nuclear issue.â€
“Snapback does not contradict our earnest readiness for diplomacy, it only enhances it,†Rubio said.
Departing CDC staff say Susan Monarez’s firing was the final straw
Two departing scientific leaders at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say they knew it was time to quit when the agency’s director was pushed aside.
“We knew ... if she leaves, we don’t have scientific leadership anymore,†one of the officials, Dr. Debra Houry, told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Another official, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis said: “I came to the point personally where I think our science will be compromised, and that’s my line in the sand.â€
Rwanda becomes third African nation to accept Trump’s deportees
spokesperson Yolande Makolo said Thursday that seven deportees arrived in the East African country earlier this month as the Trump administration to send migrants to countries they have no ties with. No announcement was made at the time, and the government has not revealed their identities, nationalities, where they are being held and whether they have criminal records.
Makolo said the seven are being visited by United Nations representatives and Rwandan social services. She said three want to return to their home countries while the other four “wish to stay and build lives in Rwanda.â€
and have already accepted a small number of deportees from the U.S. in what have also been secretive deals. Rwanda did say in early August that it had but declined then to say when the first would arrive.
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Trump proposes pre-midterm Republican convention
The president posted Thursday that he’s “thinking of recommending a National Convention to the Republican Party, just prior to the Midterms.â€
“It has never been done before. STAY TUNED!!!†he added in the Truth Social post.
Conventions are typically held during election years so that parties can formally nominate candidates following state primaries. They also give candidates tons of free media coverage and exposure.
Trump’s proposal comes a day after Axios reported that senior Democrats were considering holding their own national convention before the 2026 midterms “to showcase candidates and emerging leaders of the party.â€
Trump and von der Leyen talk after Russia launches another massive attack on Kyiv
European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on X that she spoke on Thursday with Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following °Õ³ó³Ü°ù²õ»å²¹²â’s major airstrike on Kyiv that killed at least 17.
“Putin must come to the negotiating table,†von der Leyen said. “We must secure a just and lasting peace for Ukraine with firm and credible security guarantees that will turn the country into a steel porcupine.â€
Border czar says he doesn’t like masks, but ICE agents need them
Responding to the Washington, D.C., mayor’s suggestion that masks make agents less effective in fighting crime, Tom Homan said that wasn’t “based on data.â€
“Criminals have been wearing masks for a long time,†Homan said, adding that federal agents need them as well to keep their identities, and those of their families, from being published online and jeopardizing their safety.
“I don’t particularly like masks, but the agents need the mask,†Homan said. “ICE agents are doing what they got to do.â€
Powerful Senate Republicans calls for ‘oversight’ of CDC departures
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican of Louisiana, has called for the Senate’s health committee to provide oversight of the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez.
“These high profile departures will require oversight by the HELP Committee,†Cassidy said in a on Wednesday night.
Several CDC leaders have also departed the public agency over the last 24 hours.
Cassidy provided a key vote to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the nation’s health secretary.
Trump administration asks base outside Chicago for support
The Trump administration has asked a military base outside Chicago for support on immigration operations, the base said Thursday, signaling a push to expand its law enforcement crackdown to other cities.
The Department of Homeland Security has asked Naval Station Great Lakes for “limited support in the form of facilities, infrastructure, and other logistical needs to support DHS operations,†said Matt Mogle, spokesperson for the base 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of Chicago.
He said no decisions have been made on the request and that the base has not received an official request to support a National Guard deployment.
Closure of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention center can proceed, judge says
A federal judge in Miami has refused to pause her order requiring the winding down of the immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz†while the federal government appeals her ruling.
What is Trump trying to do with the Federal Reserve?
The Supreme Court has signaled that the president can’t fire Fed officials over policy differences, but he can do so “for cause,†typically meaning misconduct or neglect of duty. Most legal experts say that a “for cause†removal requires some type of process that would allow Cook to respond to the charges, which hasn’t happened. Cook has not been charged with any crime.
The president’s decision comes as he has repeatedly attacked Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the other members of the Fed’s interest-rate setting committee for not cutting the short-term interest rate they control more quickly. Critics say Trump is just finding pretexts to open up seats for Trump loyalists who might allow him to control the central bank that’s a cornerstone of the global economy.
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook sues the Trump administration
The lawsuit launches an unprecedented legal challenge that could significantly reshape the Fed’s long-standing political independence.
No president has sought to fire a Fed governor in the institution’s 112-year history, until Trump posted a letter on his Truth Social media platform . Trump cited accusations by one of his appointees that she committed mortgage fraud in 2021, before she was appointed to the board.
Weakening growth may possibly lead to an interest-rate cut
Growth has weakened, with many companies pulling back on expansion projects amid the uncertainty of Trump’s tariff policies. Growth slowed to a 1.3% annual rate in the first half of the year, down from 2.5% in 2024.
The sluggishness in the job market is a key reason that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that the central bank may cut its key interest rate at its next meeting Sept. 16-17. A cut could reduce other borrowing costs in the economy, including mortgages, auto loans, and business loans.
US jobless numbers reflect a ‘no hire, no fire’ economy
Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week as employers appear to be holding onto their workers even as the economy . Applications for the week ending Aug. 23 dropped 5,000 to 229,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday, and the unemployment rate remains a low 4.2%.
Measures of the job market are being and by the Federal Reserve as the most recent government data suggests hiring has since this spring. Job gains have averaged barely one-quarter of what they were a year ago. And while layoffs are low, hiring has also weakened as part of what many economists describe as a “no hire, no fire†economy.
Consumer spending a bit stronger as private investment drops
The Commerce Department also reported that and private investment were a bit stronger in the second quarter than it had first estimated. Even so, private investment dropped at a 13.8% annual pace from April through June. That would be biggest drop since the second quarter of 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. A reduction in private inventories cut almost 3.3 percentage points off second-quarter GDP growth.
Trump has overturned decades of free trade policy with his from almost every country on Earth. Trump sees tariffs as a way to protect American industry, lure factories back to the United States and help pay for the massive tax cuts he signed into law July 4.
But mainstream economists — viewed with disdain by Trump and his advisers — say his tariffs will damage the economy, raising costs and making protected U.S. companies less efficient as inflation rises.
US economy rebounded amid Trump trade war fallout, government says
In an , the Commerce Department said Thursday that U.S. gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — expanded at a 3.3% annual pace from April through June after shrinking 0.5% in the first three months of 2025. The department had initially estimated second-quarter growth at 3%.
The first-quarter GDP drop, the first retreat of the U.S. economy in three years, was mainly caused by a surge in imports — which are subtracted from GDP — as businesses scrambled to bring in foreign goods ahead of Trump’s tariffs. That trend reversed as expected in the second quarter: Imports fell at a 29.8% pace, boosting April-June growth by more than 5 percentage points.
RFK Jr. wants new CDC leaders to address ‘deeply embedded’ agency opposition
HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declined to directly comment on the ouster of CDC Director Susan Monarez and the resignations of several other top agency officials in an appearance Thursday on Fox and Friends. But he signaled that he continues to have concerns about CDC officials being aligned with his and Trump’s outlook on health policy.
“So we need to look at the priorities of the agency, if there’s really a deeply, deeply embedded, I would say, malaise at the agency,†Kennedy said. “And we need strong leadership that will go in there and that will be able to execute on President Trump’s broad ambitions.â€
