Robert Malone claimed that Andrew Nixon, spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, “trashed” him with the media, adding that he resigned because “I do not like drama.”
Robert Malone, the controversial and outspoken vice chair of the CDC’s vaccine advisory group, has resigned from his post after a misunderstanding with higher-ups regarding the immediate future of the committee.
Malone’s exit, first reported Tuesday by Roll Call, adds to the growing upheaval at the CDC, marked by leadership turnover and frequent miscommunication between officials.
Days before his departure, Malone posted on X that the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which recommends immunization guidelines to the CDC, had been disbanded.
Andrew Nixon, spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, quickly disavowed this: “Unless officially announced by us, any assertions about what we are doing next is baseless speculation,” he told BioSpace in an emailed statement. Nixon’s denial of Malone’s claims was also reported by other outlets. (Malone also walked back his initial claim shortly thereafter.)
“After Andrew trashing me with the press, I am done with the CDC and ACIP,” Malone told Roll Call in a text message, the outlet reported Tuesday. “That was the last straw,” Malone added. “Suffice to say I do not like drama, and have better things to do.”
Martin Kulldorff, former ACIP chair and now chief science officer of the HHS’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, stood up for Nixon. “I found him to be professional and honest in his work supporting ACIP,” he said in a statement to Roll Call.
However, Kulldorff added, “I can sympathize with [Malone’s] decision to step away.”
CDC remains without a permanent head after previous director Susan Monarez was forced out in August 2025. Jim O’Neill, HHS deputy secretary, then led the CDC before his resignation last month. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, is now the CDC’s acting director.
The White House was supposed to have nominated his replacement by Wednesday, but it has missed that deadline, according to The Washington Post. Nixon confirmed in a statement to the outlet that Bhattacharya will “continue to oversee the CDC.”
That role, however, may have put Bhattacharya in a difficult position, given the antivaccine stances of his boss, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Bhattacharya has had “scientific” disagreements with Kennedy, he told staff in an internal meeting on Wednesday, according to NOTUS, which was able to obtain an audio recording of the event. He added that he would “continue to strongly encourage parents to vaccinate their children” against measles.
“The way that we actually get back to having basically zero measles transmission is by making sure that every community in the country knows that this is the best way to protect their kids from this deadly disease,” Bhattacharya said.
However, in an X post responding to the NOTUS piece—which he called “clickbait”— he said, “I differ on scientific matters with nearly everyone about some things. I learn much from respectful conversations about those disagreements, including especially with Sec. Kennedy.”
