CDC Head Ousted

RFK Jr. bashes CDC after firing of director, resignation of key leaders​

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Fox News the CDC is “in trouble,” [sure is!] as CDC employees worried he would further undermine vaccine access.

Ousted question mark?

Showdown at CDC as director refuses to leave post, amid pressure from Trump administration​

Monarez's lawyers again pushed back, arguing that because Monarez was appointed by President Donald Trump to the post -- the first CDC director to go through a Senate confirmation process -- Trump had to personally dismiss her.

"For this reason, we reject the notification Dr. Monarez has received as legally deficient and she remains as CDC Director. We have notified the White House Counsel of our position," Zaid and Lowell said in a statement.

"When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts, she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda. For that, she has been targeted," Monarez's lawyers Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell said in a statement.

The showdown began as a disagreement over demands from Kennedy and Stefanie Spear, his principal deputy chief of staff, for Monarez to support changes to COVID vaccine policy and the firings of high-level staff, a source familiar with the conversations told ABC News, which Monarez would not commit to.

9 Ex-CDC Chiefs Sound Alarm on RFK Jr.’s Leadership in Scathing NY Times Op-Ed: ‘Endangering Every American’s Health’​

Nine former directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, spanning administrations from President Jimmy Carter to President Donald Trump, joined forces to warn Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is “endangering every American’s health” in a scathing takedown of his actions.

In a joint New York Times op-ed, the former officials wrote that Kennedy’s actions are “unlike anything we have ever seen at the agency, and unlike anything our country has ever experienced.”

Their alarm follows the abrupt firing of CDC director Dr. Susan Monarez.

“When Secretary Kennedy administered the oath of office to Dr. Monarez on July 31, he called her ‘a public health expert with unimpeachable scientific credentials,’” the officials wrote. “But when she refused weeks later to rubber-stamp his dangerous and unfounded vaccine recommendations or heed his demand to fire senior C.D.C. staff members, he decided she was expendable.”

“None of us would have agreed to the secretary’s demands, and we applaud Dr. Monarez for standing up for the agency and the health of our communities,” they added.

essentialsaltes said:

But when she refused weeks later to rubber-stamp his dangerous and unfounded vaccine recommendations ...

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I wonder if those "dangerous and unfounded vaccine recommendations" are those that are mostly in line with what most of the rest of the world recommends for annual COVID vaccines.

Major policy decisions need political approval, HHS told CDC chief before ouster​

Susan Monarez, the fired CDC director, and Debra Houry, one of three top agency leaders who resigned in protest, are appearing before the Senate health committee.

Monarez and her lawyers have accused Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of pressuring her to roll back vaccine recommendations. Kennedy told senators that she was lying, while conceding that he asked her to fire senior staff, when he testified at another Senate hearing earlier this month.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) said he is inviting Department of Health and Human Services officials, including Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to speak with the panel and refute any remarks given at Wednesday’s hearing. Cassidy said Monarez has raised serious allegations that strike at the core of the CDC.

essentialsaltes said:

Monarez and her lawyers have accused Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of pressuring her to roll back vaccine recommendations.

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Sounds like when the Biden administration pressured the FDA to approve COVID boosters with no data, and the top two vaccine regulators at the FDA resigned in protest.

Political interference in public health decisions is nothing new.

Susan Monarez, former CDC director, tells Senate committee 'true reason' she was fired​

"Part of our responsibility today is to ask ourselves, if someone is fired 29 days after every Republican votes for her, the Senate confirms her, the secretary said in her swearing in that she has 'unimpeachable scientific credentials' and the president called her an incredible mother and dedicated public servant -- like what happened? Did we fail? Was there something we should have done differently?" Cassidy said.

Monarez, in her opening statement, gave a detailed timeline on the chain of events that she said led to her ouster.

"Since my removal, several explanations have been offered: that I told the secretary I would resign, that I was not aligned with administration priorities, or that I was untrustworthy. None of those reflect what actually happened," Monarez said.

Monarez said there was a meeting in which she says Kennedy told her to preemptively accept recommendations from a CDC vaccine advisory panel and to fire career officials overseeing vaccine policy.

"I would not commit to that, and I believe it is the true reason I was fired," Monarez said. She later added, "I was fired for holding the line on scientific integrity."