Criticism of failures at the FDA and CDC re:ventilators and COVID screening (among others) and what they say about the state of big American domestic agencies. Examples here: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-showed-america-wasnt-task/608023/ via @anneapplebaum and here via bret stephens https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/opinion/coronavirus-FDA.html. Thread/

2. These criticisms center on the failure of agencies to move to crisis mode and to streamline or ignore rules given the crisis. These miss the different functions of career federal officials and political appointees. That division of labor is particularly important in a crisis.

3. It's primarily the job of political leadership to make these "break the glass" calls. Not only because of democratic legitimacy, but because they have a perspective that even senior career staff lack. I say this as a proud member of the career "Senior Executive Service".

4. Career staff are trying to run programs and bring problems and policy questions to political appointees. Career staff look to political appointees for leadership in part because political appointees don't have these day to day responsibilities.

5. Meanwhile, political appointees are surveying the horizon--they are interacting with routinely with cabinet leadership and white house staff, and with media.

So, to explain the failure of the CDC and the FDA to shift into crisis mode, look to agency political leadership.

6. In early 2004 the head of the FDA was Mark McClellan, a Bush Administration veteran who had been in the role for three years and went on to head CMS. In early 2012 the head of the FDA was Margarent Hamburg, also in year three of a six year term of service.

7. The current head of the FDA, Stephen Hahn, is an oncologist who has been there a few months.

Similarly for the CDC: Julie Gerberding was head of the CDC for seven years in the GW Bush administration, and Tom Frieden for all 8 years of Obama.

8. The current head of the CDC had no public health experience and started in mid-2018 after the first appointee was caught insider trading. https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/13/opinions/trumps-terrible-choice-for-cdc-redfield-garrett/index.html.

These are the people who were needed to direct--or re-direct-- senior executives. They couldn't do it. /End