Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are eagerly anticipating a Joe Biden administration, according to CNN.
“This is what we’ve been waiting for is for them to send their landing team here and set up shop,” a senior CDC official said on Tuesday after the General Services Administration gave Biden the green light to begin the transition process.
The senior CDC official said everyone at the agency expects a certain kind of “rebuilding,” since President Donald Trump worked to deregulate many parts of the bureaucracy.
In the CDC, for example, the Trump administration shut down regular briefings toward the beginning of the pandemic as a way to streamline the agency’s focus on the coronavirus pandemic.
The senior CDC officials said the agency hopes to revamp these regular briefings and take on a more visible role.
When asked if senior leaders at the CDC are more enthusiastic now that it appears Biden will take the White House, the official said, “Yes!”
Another anonymous “federal health official” cited by CNN said there was more enthusiasm at CDC with the hope there will be restoration of regular briefings. “Man oh man, I hope so,” the official said.
The GSA informed Biden on Monday that he can begin the transition process, which means the Biden team can now access funding and participate in transition talks with government personnel.
GSA Administrator Emily Murphy did, however, make it clear that the GSA does not “pick or certify the winner of a presidential election,” and that disputes over the election’s results will ultimately be left to the courts and the electoral process as detailed in the Constitution.
Trump echoed Murphy’s comments in a tweet on Tuesday morning.
Remember, the GSA has been terrific, and Emily Murphy has done a great job, but the GSA does not determine who the next President of the United States will be.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2020
