Government officials say the new head of the top U.S. public health agency has asked for — and will receive — a cut to his record-setting pay.

Officials are not yet saying what Dr. Robert Redfield Jr.'s new salary is.

The 66-year-old HIV researcher was picked in March to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

His annual compensation was set at $375,000. That sum was at least $150,000 more than any previous CDC director had received. It also was well above the compensation of other top federal health officials — including Redfield's boss, Secretary Alex Azar of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

On Monday, HHS officials said Redfield had asked for a pay reduction because the topic had become a distraction.