Appointment and authority of the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (referred to in this section as the “CDC”) shall be headed by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (referred to in this section as the “Director”), who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Such individual shall also serve as the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry consistent with section 9604(i) of this title. The Director shall perform functions provided for in subsection (b) and such other functions as the Secretary may prescribe. The Secretary, acting through the Director, shall— Not later than 1 year after December 29, 2022, and at least every 4 years thereafter, the Director shall develop and submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and post on the website of the CDC, a coordinated strategy to provide strategic direction and facilitate collaboration across the centers, institutes, and offices within the CDC. Such strategy shall be known as the “CDC Strategic Plan”. The CDC Strategic Plan shall— identify strategic priorities and objectives related to— include a description of how the CDC Strategic Plan incorporates— Strategic plans developed and updated by the centers, institutes, and offices of the CDC shall be prepared regularly and in such a manner that such plans will be informed by the CDC Strategic Plan developed and updated under this subsection. Each fiscal year, the Director shall appear before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives at hearings on topics such as— support for State, local, and Tribal public health preparedness and responses to any recent or ongoing public health emergency, including— The Chair of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate or the Chair of the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives may waive the requirements of paragraph (1) for the applicable fiscal year with respect to the applicable Committee. The requirements of this subsection shall not be construed to impact the appearance of other Federal officials or the Director at hearings of either Committee described in paragraph (1) at other times and for purposes other than the times and purposes described in paragraph (1). Information that is not appropriate for disclosure during an open hearing under paragraph (1) in order to protect national security may instead be discussed in a closed hearing that immediately follows the open hearing. In carrying out activities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Director may enter into transactions other than a contract, grant, or cooperative agreement for purposes of infectious disease research, biosurveillance, infectious disease modeling, and public health preparedness and response. With respect to a project that is expected to cost the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention more than $40,000,000, the Director may exercise the authority under paragraph (1) only upon a written determination by the Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources of the Department of Health and Human Services, that the use of such authority is essential to promoting the success of the project. The authority of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources under this paragraph may not be delegated. The Director, in consultation with the Secretary, shall establish guidelines regarding the use of the authority under paragraph (1). Such guidelines shall include auditing requirements.