Birx says she'll retire soon after the Biden transition

Dr. Deborah Birx
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said Tuesday she will retire after helping the federal government transition to President-elect Joe Biden's administration. "I will be helpful in any role people think I can be helpful in," she told Newsy. "And then I will retire." She added: "I will be helpful through a period of time. And then I will have to say that this experience has been a bit overwhelming. It's been very difficult on my family."

The reference to her family was evidently prompted by an Associated Press report Sunday on Birx traveling to her vacation home on Delaware's Fenwick Island over Thanksgiving, accompanied by three generations of her family from two households. Birx had urged Americans to limit their holiday festivities to their "immediate household;" she told AP that everyone on the trip was part of her "immediate household" and the visit was not "for the purpose of celebrating Thanksgiving" but to winterize the property for a potential sale.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.