Federal Policy

HHS Secretary Kennedy Visits CDC Atlanta to Honor Slain Officer

Kennedy's appearance at the CDC memorial marks a visible moment of continuity between federal health leadership and law enforcement, one year after an on-site shooting that killed a DeKalb County...

The Congressional Times · August 8, 2026

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. traveled to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta on Friday, August 8, 2026, to attend a memorial ceremony marking the one-year anniversary of a shooting that killed DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose, according to reporting by The Hill. The event was held on CDC grounds and was open to agency employees.

Officer Rose died following a shooting at the CDC Atlanta campus in August 2025 that forced the facility into lockdown, according to The Hill's account of the event. Kennedy delivered remarks at the ceremony, stating: 'Today, we honored Officer David Rose's extraordinary courage,' as quoted by The Hill. No official transcript of the full remarks has been released by HHS as of publication.

Following the memorial, Kennedy held an in-person fireside chat with CDC employees, according to The Hill. The format and full list of topics discussed at the fireside chat have not been disclosed in any public HHS press release or official agency record available as of August 8, 2026.

Kennedy was confirmed as HHS Secretary by the U.S. Senate in February 2025 by a vote of 52–48, as recorded in the Senate roll call (Senate Vote No. 51, 119th Congress). His tenure has included a series of organizational reviews at CDC, though no formal restructuring orders citing the Atlanta campus security infrastructure have been identified in HHS Federal Register notices or USASpending.gov contract data as of this writing.

What remains unknown: whether the federal government has issued new security contracts or appropriated additional funding for CDC campus law enforcement following Officer Rose's death. A review of USASpending.gov contract awards and the relevant DHS or HHS budget justifications submitted to Congress for FY2026 would clarify whether security upgrades were funded and implemented in the year since the shooting.

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