Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., told Fox News on Monday that he supported replacing Rochelle Walensky with Dr. Ashish Jha as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to Mediaite.

The California congressman joined the network to clarify previous comments made last week.

"[Jha] has been a national treasure in helping us get through the pandemic with reason, facts, compassion, and equal concern for the lives of all," Khanna said on Twitter. "Put him in charge of the CDC!"

The increased pressure from Khanna to replace the embattled CDC director comes as Walensky told The Wall Street Journal that she regretted the changing messaging guidelines from the agency regarding COVID-19.

"I think what I have not conveyed is the uncertainty in a lot of these situations," Walensky told the outlet, adding that she is committed to communicating CDC guidance more clearly.

The CDC changed its isolation guidance earlier this month to say that those who have tested positive for COVID-19 should isolate for at least five days instead of the previous ten. They also did not initially recommend that a negative test be the condition to end isolation, Axios reported

The agency later added testing recommendations saying that anyone ending isolation who "has access to a test" and "wants to test" can do so. However, the science behind the CDC's decisions was criticized.

In an interview on CNN, Walensky said that considerations regarding "human behavior," like the population's willingness to self-isolate, were factors in deciding the new guidance.

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