Trump’s new CDC chief: A Washington health insider with a libertarian streak
August 29, 2025
President Donald Trump has picked a former investor and critic of health regulations to oversee the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Jim O’Neill currently serves as the health department’s number two official under health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. His additional appointment comes after a tumultuous week at the CDC in which the agency’s director was forced out over disputes with Kennedy. A former associate of billionaire tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel, O’Neill previously helped run one of Thiel’s investment funds. He also previously served in government under George W. Bush, making him an outlier among Trump’s team of health outsiders.