Democracy Dies in Darkness
Health

Surgeon General resigns at Biden’s request

Ouster is regarded as a break with Trump administration’s coronavirus response, which the president has called a failure.

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January 20, 2021 at 5:55 p.m. EST
Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams at the White House last month. (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post)

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams resigned at then-President-elect Joe Biden’s request early Wednesday, as Biden sought to make a symbolic break with his predecessor’s covid-19 response.

“Thank you for the opportunity to serve this great Nation, as this has been the honor of my life,” Adams wrote in a departure note posted to Facebook. “ … I hope in 2021 and beyond, we can focus more on what unites us, and rise above what divides us.”