President Joe Biden has accepted the resignation of top White House scientist Eric Lander after an internal investigation into allegations that he bullied and mistreated staff was made public.
Biden accepted Lander’s letter “with gratitude for his work at [the Office of Science and Technology Policy] on the pandemic, the cancer moonshot, climate change, and other priorities,” according to press secretary Jen Psaki.
“He knows Dr. Lander will continue to make important contributions to the scientific community in the years ahead,” she told reporters Monday evening.
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Psaki was grilled by reporters Monday afternoon about Lander’s position within the administration after a two-month investigation found what Christina Peele, the White House’s deputy director of management and administration for personnel, called “credible evidence” that he had fostered a toxic work environment.
During a 20-minute briefing on the investigation, reported by Politico, Peele described Lander speaking to subordinates “in a demeaning or abrasive way in front of other staff.”
Lander’s behavior and subsequent apology were at odds with Biden’s day-one promise to fire “on the spot” any aide who disrespected a colleague.
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Lander was a guest of honor at the relaunch of Biden’s White House cancer moonshot project last week. He was expected to testify before Congress this week but was pulled by administration officials earlier Monday.
