In a sweeping purge of public health officials, the wife of infamous COVID czar Dr. Anthony Fauci has been ousted from her position at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has executed a leadership purge at both the NIH and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Christine Grady, who led the NIH’s bioethics department during her husband’s controversial tenure, was among several key figures fired or reassigned as the Trump administration delivers on its promise to overhaul America’s public health agencies.
The removals have decimated the leadership at NIH’s infectious disease office and parts of the FDA, targeting officials who were central to COVID vaccine development and those with close ties to Fauci.
Grady’s firing follows Kennedy’s appointment as head of HSS, where he promised to transform public health priorities away from what he calls “sick care” toward true prevention.
Kennedy’s actions fulfill campaign promises to dismantle what many conservatives view as an entrenched bureaucracy that mishandled the COVID pandemic.
“The reality is clear: what we’ve been doing isn’t working,” Kennedy said when discussing the situation.
The firings specifically targeted officials involved in vaccine development and distribution, policies that many Americans believe infringed on personal freedoms.
Grady’s removal is particularly significant given her role during the pandemic and concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
As chair of the Department of Bioethics at the NIH Clinical Center, she was responsible for ethical guidelines while her husband directed national COVID policy—a relationship that raised eyebrows among government watchdogs and critics.
The overhaul includes cuts to divisions focused on HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
These are areas where Fauci previously gained prominence before becoming the face of America’s COVID response.
New NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, both outspoken critics of Fauci-era policies, have pledged to refocus public health priorities.
Fauci supporters and establishment health officials have decried the moves as dangerous to public health.
However, many Americans view the housecleaning as long overdue accountability for officials who pushed school closures, mask mandates, and experimental vaccines while dismissing alternative treatments.
Both Bhattacharya and Makary have emphasized the importance of diverse scientific perspectives in stark contrast to the Fauci era, when dissenting voices were often labeled as misinformation.
