Between all the monsters and... other things, the Labs took a little bit of a beating. Like I said, I'm the idiot who didn't notice the writing on the wall. New guy, suddenly put in charge of an knee-jerk research project with a high probability of casualty and collateral damage? They weren't looking for a leader. They were looking for a bodyguard.

And a scapegoat, should the bodyguard thing fall through.