Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Max The Biden administration spent $25,750 and authorized an additional $30,500 for media training and executive coaching for the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ROCHELLE WALENSKY, according to internal CDC expense authorization filings obtained by West Wing Playbook. Starting in October 2021, Walensky enlisted longtime Democratic political consultant MANDY GRUNWALD for media training, conducted virtually, at a cost of about $500 per hour, according to the filings. In total, the CDC has paid Grunwald’s firm $16,000, with authorization to spend $14,000 more. In addition, Walensky has also regularly seen a coach to improve her management skills. The CDC has paid Boston-based TIM SULLIVAN’s firm, Wellesley Partners, $9,750 beginning in March 2021 with authorization to pay $16,500 more. Those sessions also run at $500 an hour. The spending is allowed under the Government Employees Training Act (GETA) which gives agencies discretion on paying for employee training. The expense authorization filings from the CDC require a stated “training objective.” And in that training objective field, Grunwald’s firm wrote that it would “assist [Walensky’s] team in crafting clear language to communicate CDC's public health guidance and coach Dr. Walensky to effectively deal with television interviews and other public communications." Grunwald did not respond to an email and Wellesley Partners did not respond to an email and a call seeking comment. But Walensky’s spokesperson, JASON McDONALD, told us that “CDC directors have long received media coaching to ensure they are effectively and clearly communicating to public health partners and the American people - elements vital to disease outbreak responses.” McDonald also noted that “the selection of an executive coach is a personal thing and the best coaches are those with which the principal can establish rapport and trust.” He added that Walensky selected the coach that “best suited her.” Grunwald and Sullivan’s firm were hired despite the fact that the federal government already has coaching programs set up for the executive branch whose “services may be shared across agencies at no cost,” according to the Chief Human Capital Officers Council, which helps coordinate the programs. The documents on the CDC’s expenses were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the conservative group Americans for Public Trust, which shared them with West Wing Playbook. “Dr. Walensky’s entire tenure has been plagued by poor communication, conflicting guidance, and a forced revamp of her agency,” said CAITLIN SUTHERLAND, the group’s executive director. “And now we learn that taxpayers are on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in coaches and consultants to keep her afloat.” The expense filings offer a window into the behind the scenes efforts to improve the CDC’s messaging around Covid protocols and management of the sprawling agency. The agency has come under fire on several occasions for providing confusing or vague guidance around masking , isolation guidelines and the rollout of booster shots . Walensky, who came from academia with little experience in the federal government, has frustrated other senior officials at times for her tendency to lapse into “academic speak” in trying to explain the nuances of the agency’s decision-making to the public — rather than sticking to simple and straightforward talking points. MAX STIER , the CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, which provides executive coaching to federal agencies including the CDC, said that Walensky should be applauded for enlisting a coach and not stigmatized. “There can’t be that many jobs that are more complex than running the CDC right now so any help she can get is worth it,” he said. “Kudos to her for understanding that that is actually important to prioritize. Leaders get so much in the do mode that they can forget that investing in how to do pays off.” JEFF PON, the Trump-era director of the Office of Personnel Management, who penned a memo encouraging the use of executive coaches, agreed that Walensky deserves credit for enlisting an executive coach. Five hundred dollars an hour “seems extravagant to most lay people but the coaches I know that coach CEO’s cost even more,” he said. Still, he said he thought it would have been better to use the federal government’s coaches. “My official response is that you should always use the federal government’s resources first.” MESSAGE US — Are you ATISSA LADJEVARDIAN, senior associate director for economic agency personnel? We want to hear from you! And we’ll keep you anonymous if you’d like. Or if you think we missed something in today’s edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com . WHAT YOU WROTE: A former Biden official wrote us about our piece yesterday on Biden’s doctor, KEVIN O’CONNOR . Beyond telling corny jokes, the former official said the doctor also has a penchant for four-letter words. “He’s basically a walking NC-17 rating,” the official quipped, but emphasized the rating is just for language. The person added that, like many in Biden world, they love the “Doc.”
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