Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has introduced legislation to accelerate the timeline for when the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention becomes a Senate-approved position.
Last year's $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill included a provision that the CDC director would need Senate confirmation beginning Jan. 20, 2025. But Cruz's CDC Accountability Act would make confirmation immediate upon the bill's enactment.
Rochelle Walensky is stepping down as CDC director and President Joe Biden named former North Carolina Health Secretary Mandy Cohen to replace her, starting July 1. Members of North Carolina's congressional delegation and other lawmakers, including Cruz, sent a letter June 13 to Biden labeling Cohen "unfit for the position" because of her role in shutting down North Carolina during the COVID-19 pandemic, and requiring indoor masking of schoolchildren.
"As we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic, public health officials have an incredible amount of power over the lives of Texans and Americans," Cruz said in a news release. "Mandy Cohen was a driving force behind lockdowns and forced masking in North Carolina.
"Taking advantage of a pandemic to push government control over our daily lives shouldn't be rewarded with a promotion.
"Texas deserves a say in who leads national health care conversations, and my bill would simply speed the process that Congress has already put in place, by giving the Senate a say in this important decision now instead of 2025."
Cruz's bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Mike Braun, R-Ind.
"The COVID pandemic vastly expanded the powers of the CDC director over our lives, from controlling when our kids went back to school to whether or not you had to pay your rent," Braun said. "Ideally, this position should not have that much power, but in the meantime, this incredibly powerful bureaucratic position should be confirmed by the people's representatives in the Senate."
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.