Top White House scientist resigns, admits he ’caused hurt’

The top science adviser to the White House, Eric Lander, resigned on Monday, telling President Joe Biden in his letter of resignation that he had been “demeaning” to subordinates.

After the notorious revolving door for advisers during Donald Trump’s term in office, Lander was the first member of Biden’s Cabinet, as director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, to resign.

For Lander’s critics, his exit took far too long, and he shouldn’t have been nominated. For the White House, Biden has been “crystal clear” about his expectations and what will ultimately become of bullies in under his watch, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said ahead of the resignation Monday.

During his campaign, Biden vowed to make the White House a more fair and respectful place to work after Trump’s boisterous years. He said he would terminate bullies under his auspices “on the spot.”

Lander, who was founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard under the patronage of late Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad, was tapped by Biden for scientific advice before his inauguration. But when Lander was nominated, it prompted warnings from science luminaries, and he was the last of Biden’s Cabinet members to be confirmed.