The ousted director of the Centers for Disease Control testified Wednesday that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired her because she refused to back his push to implement new restrictions on life-saving vaccines.
Susan Monarez, who was appointed by President Trump, told the Senate health committee that RFK Jr. fired her after she wouldn’t commit in advance to supporting the recommendations of his handpicked panel stacked with vaccine skeptics.
“I was fired for holding the line on scientific integrity,” Monarez said.
Monarez accused Kennedy of being on a mission to roll back decades of medical miracles that have all but eradicated once-deadly diseases like measles and whooping cough from American life.
“The question before us is whether we will keep faith with our children and grandchildren ensuring they remain safe from the diseases we fought so hard to defeat,” Monarez said. “Undoing that progress would … betray every family that trusts us to protect their health.”
Former CDC chief medical officer Debra Houry, who quit in protest of Kennedy’s anti-vaxx push, also said she fears Kennedy will undermine the nation’s ability to fight preventable diseases and pandemics.
She and Monarez heaped praise on Trump for engineering the effort to fast track development of the vaccines that doctors credit with ending the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“Operation Warp Speed saved millions of lives and was absolutely a godsend for our country,” Houry said.
The two preeminent public health officials made the joint appearance as Kennedy continues to sow chaos at the agencies tasked with protecting the nation’s health.
Kennedy, who had been one of the nation’s most prominent vaccine skeptics for years, promised lawmakers at a Senate confirmation hearing that he wouldn’t make major changes in vaccine policy.
But within a matter of weeks, he fired all the members of a crucial advisory panel and replaced them with prominent vaccine skeptics.
The panel is expected to meet this week to discuss possible new recommendations for shots against COVID-19, hepatitis B and chickenpox, raising the stakes for ordinary Americans who could see new restrictions on vaccines or changes in insurance coverage.
Monarez also plans to say that Kennedy directed her to oust a number of high-ranking CDC officials without cause, which she says she refused to do.
Kennedy has denied Monarez’s accusations that he ordered “rubber-stamped” vaccine recommendations.
He says Monarez admitted she was “untrustworthy,” a claim Monarez has denied. He acknowledged during a testy Senate hearing earlier this month that he ordered Monarez to fire several top officials at the CDC.
