The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is in chaos after Susan Monarez, the newly confirmed director of the public-health agency, was suddenly fired on Wednesday night. Reports say her firing came after a private clash with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy. After Monarez left, other top CDC officials also resigned because of the agency’s direction under the Trump administration.
Many Democrats are calling for an investigation into Monarez’s firing, and some are even demanding Kennedy’s resignation. Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician whose vote helped Kennedy become HHS secretary, was less forceful.
Right after Monarez’s firing, Cassidy wrote on social media that “These high profile departures will require oversight by the HELP Committee,” referring to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, which he chairs. However, he did not explain exactly what that oversight would involve.
On Thursday, Cassidy asked the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the CDC panel that sets vaccine recommendations, to postpone its September meeting. He said “serious allegations” had been made about the committee members and a “lack of scientific process being followed” for the meeting. Back in June, Kennedy had fired all 17 ACIP members, writing in a Wall Street Journal editorial that the panel “has been plagued with persistent conflicts of interest and has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine.”
Cassidy had also called for an ACIP meeting postponement in June, citing the inexperience of some new appointees and the absence of a CDC director. But the panel ignored him and held the meeting anyway.
According to the Washington Post, Monarez contacted Cassidy after Kennedy gave her an ultimatum to either resign or support changes to COVID-19 vaccine policies. Sources say Cassidy pushed back against Kennedy on Monarez’s behalf, which upset the HHS secretary. When Cassidy supported Kennedy’s confirmation, he promised to work closely with him and act as a check on the agency. But Kennedy has continued to reshape the public-health landscape with little effect from Cassidy’s concerns.
Monarez, nominated by President Donald Trump earlier this year, served as CDC director for less than a month after Senate confirmation in late July. Kennedy had said in March that he “handpicked” Monarez, calling her a “longtime champion of MAHA values.” Jim O’Neill, the current deputy HHS secretary, has been named interim CDC director.
O’Neill said the CDC “lost public trust by manipulating health data to support a political narrative” during the previous administration. “We are helping the agency earn back the trust it had squandered. I look forward to working with CDC’s dedicated team and announcing additions to the senior leadership in the weeks ahead,” he said.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the independent ranking member on the HELP Committee, sent a letter calling for a bipartisan investigation into Monarez’s firing and the resignations of top CDC officials. He urged Cassidy to hold a hearing so the public could hear directly from Kennedy and Monarez. “Every member of our committee should be able to ask questions and get honest answers from them. I urge you to call a hearing immediately on these actions,” he wrote.
Some remaining CDC employees showed support for Monarez and other departing officials on Thursday by staging a “clap out” at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
