Biden Admin COVID-19 Adviser Steps Down

Andy Slavitt in a file photo Alex Wong/Getty Images

Andy Slavitt announced he is stepping down from his role as a senior adviser to the White House’s COVID-19 response efforts.

Slavitt, a former Obama administration official who was the acting chief of Medicare and Medicaid, said his role was temporary.

“It has been an honor to serve the public as part of President Biden’s COVID response team these past 4 months. As planned, I’m returning to my family today. The nation is in great hands to meet the challenges ahead,” Slavitt wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

Slavitt was named as President Joe Biden’s pandemic coordinator after Biden’s inauguration in January. Special government employee jobs are limited to just 130 days, according to the Department of the Interior.

“Today is my last briefing and tomorrow is my last day in the White House,” Slavitt said at the White House on Tuesday. “It has been an honor to serve as part of the administration committed to working day and night until Americans are able to feel safe again from this pandemic.”

Slavitt in March gave credit to former President Donald Trump’s administration’s response to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic—dubbed “Operation Warp Speed.”

“We’re grateful for the work that came before us and are doing the best we can to continue it and accelerate it,” Slavitt said during a Fox News appearance. “I would absolutely tip my hat. … The Trump administration made sure that we got in record time a vaccine up and out. That’s a great thing and it’s something we should all be excited about.”

He also added: "Our view is there really are no bad guys here. We are going to succeed together or we are going to fail together.”

Former Vice President Mike Pence was named by Trump last year to head “Operation Warp Speed” during the pandemic’s early stages.