Dr. Ralph Abraham was sworn in on Monday as principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention following his most recent post as surgeon general of the Louisiana Department of Health.
Abraham, 71, a Republican whose grandparents immigrated from Lebanon, previously represented Louisiana’s fifth congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2015 to 2021.
As a legislator, Abraham co-sponsored resolutions against the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement targeting Israel, rejected anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hatred in the United States, supported cooperation between Israel and the United States to counter Iran and supported a long-term memorandum of understanding on military assistance to Israel.
During the first Trump administration, the former congressman commended U.S. President Donald Trump “for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s rightful capital,” while acknowledging the Jewish state as the strongest U.S. ally in the region.
“Bold and decisive leadership from Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is something we’ve come to expect. No other president in history has supported Israel so strongly,” Abraham wrote at the time.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. secretary of health and human services, stated that Abraham “brings the integrity, courage and decades of medical experience required to restore the CDC’s standing as the world’s most trusted defender of public health.”
Abraham will assume his new position at CDC headquarters in Atlanta on Jan. 5, 2026.
