WASHINGTON - President-elect Joe Biden is expected to ask for the resignation of US Surgeon General Jerome Adams after being sworn in Wednesday, ousting the nation’s top doctor in a symbolic break with his predecessor’s COVID-19 response, said two people with knowledge of the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it.
Adams, who was nominated by President Donald Trump, was sworn in as surgeon general on Sept. 5, 2017, to serve the office's standard four-year term, which expires this September. The anesthesiologist and former Indiana health commissioner - a political independent who crafted a close relationship with then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence - had emerged as a key spokesman for Trump's coronavirus response, regularly appearing on national TV and using social media to advocate for public health measures like social distancing. However, Adams' visibility also made him a target last spring for Democrats, who accused him of defending Trump's statements.
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Biden has nominated Vivek Murthy, surgeon general under President Barack Obama and a close adviser of the president-elect, to be the nation's new surgeon general, but Murthy first needs to undergo Senate confirmation hearings, which have yet to be scheduled. The people with knowledge of the decision said the incoming Biden administration would choose an acting surgeon general as soon as Wednesday, bypassing Deputy Surgeon General Erica Schwartz, a career civil servant.
Schwartz, a rear admiral in the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who had served as the Department of Health and Human Services’ point person for the transition between the Trump and Biden administrations, is planning to retire as a result of being passed over, the people said.
Reached by The Post, Adams declined to comment. HHS did not respond to questions about Adams' possible departure. Schwartz did not immediately respond to request for comment.
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A spokesperson for Biden referred to Murthy's pending nomination as surgeon general.
A top Trump administration official told The Post that Schwartz is retiring.
“RADM Erica Schwartz, a career HHS official, served our country with honor and distinction for more than two decades,” said Adm. Brett Giroir, HHS assistant secretary for health. “It is unfortunate that the American people will no longer have her expertise and dedication as we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare the Commissioned Corps for 21st- century challenges.”
A person with knowledge of HHS Secretary Alex Azar's thinking said the outgoing secretary was "extremely disappointed" that Schwartz had been bypassed for the role, given her "hundreds of hours of work" on the transition.
Often referred to as the “nation’s doctor,” the surgeon general has a bully pulpit to call attention to serious public health problems, but limited ability to make policy. He or she oversees the US Public Health Service, more than 6,000 uniformed public health personnel who work in various parts of the federal government.
Some surgeon generals have served across multiple administrations, including David Satcher, who served out a four-year term that began under President Bill Clinton and ended under President George W. Bush.
However, Trump in April 2017 dismissed then-Surgeon General Murthy - an Obama appointee - in the third year of Murthy's term, drawing the ire of Democrats.
“[T]he Surgeon General must remain independent and free from political pressure,” seven Senate Democrats wrote to the White House in May 2017, after Murthy was abruptly pushed out.
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