One of Biden’s first orders of business: firing black surgeon general Jerome Adams

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President-elect Joe Biden is expected to ask for the resignation of U.S. Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams after being sworn in Wednesday, ousting the nation’s top doctor in a symbolic break with his predecessor’s covid-19 response, said two people with knowledge of the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it. Adams, who was nominated by President Trump, was sworn in as surgeon general on Sept. 5, 2017, to serve the office’s standard four-year term, which expires this September. The anesthesiologist and former Indiana health commissioner — a political independent who crafted a close relationship with then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence — had emerged as a key spokesman for Trump’s coronavirus response, regularly appearing on national TV and using social media to advocate for public health measures such as social distancing. However, Adams’s visibility also made him a target last spring for Democrats, who accused him of defending Trump’s statements.

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