Both officials will reportedly be offered new positions within the Trump administration, though it remains unclear whether these new roles will be within HHS or at other government agencies.
Major shakeup underway at HHS as White House braces for midterms
Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill and General Counsel Mike Stuart are exiting HHS, while other officials are being promoted
Two top health officials are leaving their jobs amid a shakeup at the Department of Health and Human Services aimed at refocusing HHS on politically popular aspects of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s agenda in advance of the midterm elections.
Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill and General Counsel Mike Stuart are exiting a year into Kennedy’s reign, according to a person familiar with the matter. HHS and the White House didn’t respond to requests for comment on Friday. The news was first reported by Politico.
The departures come a day after four political appointees were elevated into more senior roles. A White House official told STAT on Thursday, prior to the reporting on O’Neill and Stuart’s departures, that changes in the department were about focusing HHS on areas like drug pricing and food safety — notably, less divisive issues than the vast changes to vaccine policy Kennedy has pursued. But they denied any attempts from the White House to rein in the secretary.
The ouster of O’Neill adds to leadership turnover at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. O’Neill had been serving as acting director of the CDC since Aug. 28, the day after former director Susan Monarez was fired. O’Neill has taken on a variety of initiatives, including some of the changes to vaccine policy as well as publicly discussing alleged Medicaid fraud cases in states like Minnesota.
Full story: Leadership shakeup at RFK Jr.'s health department ahead of midterms | STAT
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It’s just until midterms are done. Rumor is Aubrey de Grey will be filling the slot at that point. Jim O’Neill will still be around to serve as his unofficial advisor on swamp maneuvers.
O’Neill, currently Kennedy’s second in command at HHS, has been attached to some of the administration’s more divisive health policy moments.
The official, who does not have a formal medical or public health background, took over as interim leader of the Centers for Disease Control after the August ouster of Dr. Susan Monarez, who said she was pressured to pre-approve controversial vaccine recommendations and fire career scientists.
More recently, O’Neill has been one of the public faces of the administration’s attempt to freeze child care funding to states in the wake of a conservative influencer’s allegations of mass fraud at day care centers in Minnesota.
That would be good.
Jim seemed like he might have been one of the positives in the healthcare effort of MAHA, but alas… no more.
From the Washington Post:
Jim O’Neill, who had served as the deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will leave both positions, the people said. O’Neill had announced the overhaul of the childhood vaccine schedule in January.
O’Neill will be offered an ambassador position, two of the people said.
Sounds like he may soon be an ambassador of a seastead: https://www.seasteading.org
I think he lasted like what… four “Scaramucci’s”?
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The beginning of a Libertarian Superhero arc? Or an Andrew Ryan perhaps? He tried to change the System, discouraged, cast out, blamed, he went out to Remake it. Create a new one in his own image. 
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0.0000001% of voters (basically just us) know who the deputy hhs secretaries are. I am skeptical any of this is for the midterms and that changes will happen afterwards.
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Some article I read said that health issues more of interest to the general population would be emphasized heading into the midterms - prescription prices and one or two other things were mentioned. Sounded like a plausible political move to me.
As for changes afterwards, who knows? But, RFK hires Aubrey de Grey rhymes.
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I cannot see Aubrey de Grey being part of this Trumpian shit show.
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Well done!!!
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Do not expect anything from this government and you will not be disappointed.
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Wow I wonder what happened. I would imagine Jim might have been uncomfortable making recommendations he didn’t believe in.
Jim is expected to lead the NSF (not the one from Deus Ex)
Biotech investor set to lead US National Science Foundation, 19th Feb
definitely will accelerate research being decoupled from the “woke academic institutions”. which many have already forecasted for long (eg ben rinehardt). there have long been issues with the inefficiency of scientific funding (and how much gets taken up by university administration)
still, this is exciting b/c Jim O’Neill really is one of my fav people ever
You cannot see Aubrey de Grey taking an opportunity presented to him to get funding for longevity? I can.
https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-s-nsf-pick-stranger-its-research-community
Trump’s NSF pick is a stranger to its research community
U.S. President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the National Science Foundation (NSF), financier Jim O’Neill, lacks an advanced science degree and any experience managing a large basic research enterprise. That makes him a cipher to most of the U.S. academic research community—and could lead to problems for an agency that traditionally relies heavily on that community to shape its scientific agenda and choose the best ideas to fund.
…
A White House spokesperson confirmed yesterday that Trump intends to nominate O’Neill, calling him “eminently qualified for the position” with the ability “to deliver on the president’s agenda.” But cosmologist Michael Turner, former head of NSF’s math and physical sciences directorate, worries O’Neill will too closely follow that agenda, which emphasizes near-term applications of research in such fields as artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum information science. He says that could limit NSF’s ability to achieve its congressional mandate to support fundamental research across all nonmedical fields.
Yes, emphasizing near-term applications (at the expense of pure research with no obvious ones) is a worry. STEM people imagine him doing something like saying, “Now tell me again why I should care about x? Why should we fund x, instead of something like anti-aging science?” where x = some esoteric bit of research that only people in the field can understand, and that doesn’t have any obvious immediate commercial applications.
They know he is a “humanities guy” and a libertarian, so are not quite sure what to make of him. The “humanities guy” side has potential, even though it isn’t STEM-related:
Neuroscientist Kathie Olsen, who served as deputy NSF director under former President George W. Bush, is more upbeat about O’Neill’s possible vision for the agency. “He’s got a humanities degree, so maybe he’ll be supportive of the social and behavioral sciences,” she says. “And he’s interested in entrepreneurship, which is important for commercializing research.”
The “libertarian” part conjures up thoughts of Rand-oids, deregulation, commercial focus, which sounds like it could cause problems…
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I think he would accept a grant, but I don’t think he would want to be part of the administration.
I think he would choose to utilize the opportunity to steer the direction of massive amounts of money and manpower. This is my perception of him.