With the current CDC honcho leaving the position at the end of the week, President Joe Biden (D) has picked Mandy Cohen, ex-North Carolina Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, to run the agency. This is the woman who, while in the NC government,
- acceded to Anthony Fauci’s words and directions unquestioningly throughout the Wuhan Virus Situation
- idolized Fauci with a mask featuring his image
- imposed harsh restrictions that disrupted everyday life with no medical—or any other—benefit
- bragged about enforcing mass shutdowns
Nominees to the CDC Directorship aren’t subject to Senate Advice and Consent, so Biden can just appoint her.
However.
The Congress can have an impact on her appointment: the House can decline, through the appropriate appropriations bill, to fund the position of CDC Director and the Immediate Office of the Director, with the latter’s 10 Offices and Chief of Staff, until a suitable Director is appointed. The House can decline to fund the CDC as a whole. The Senate can pass the House’s bill and send the relevant appropriations bill to the President.
All that would take is the political will of the Republican majority in the House along with unified Senate Republicans in conjunction with the House declining to pass any sort of budget item via reconciliation.