RFK Jr. to Face Senators over CDC Firings, Vaccines
Congress is returning from its August recess and besides the upcoming fight over government funding and defense programs, lawmakers are sharpening on the turmoil at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., set to testify before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday about the President’s health care agenda.
The hearing, which was scheduled before CDC Director Susan Monarez was abruptly fired, will provide lawmakers an opportunity to quiz Secretary Kennedy on her firing as well as the resignations of at least four other top CDC officials.
“(Secretary) Kennedy has placed addressing the underlying causes of chronic diseases at the forefront of this Administration’s health care agenda,” said Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID). “I look forward to learning more about the Department of Health and Human Services’ Make America Healthy Again actions to date and plans moving forward.”
Monarez was fired after less than a month on the job with the Washington Post saying she refused to bow to White House pressure to change vaccine policy.
“Susan Monarez is not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again,” said the White House in announcing Monarez’s firing.
According to Politico, Secretary Kennedy had pressured Monarez to resign as well as fire certain officials. When she did not do so, she was fired.
Her lawyers say she was targeted for standing up for science.
“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,” said Monarez’s lawyers, Mark S. Zaid and Abbe Lowell, in a statement. “For that reason, she has been targeted.”
Her departure coincided with the resignations this week of at least four top CDC officials including Dr. Debra Houry, the agency’s deputy director; Dr. Daniel Jernigan, head of the agency’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases; Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, head of its National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; and Dr. Jennifer Layden, director of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology.
Congressional Oversight
The firing and subsequent resignations drew concern on Capitol Hill from members of both parties.
Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, posted that the “high profile departures will require oversight by the HELP Committee.” Senator Cassidy, who is a physician, also called for the CDC’s Vaccine Committee to indefinitely postpone its upcoming meeting.
Meanwhile, Democrats had choice words for Secretary Kennedy.
“The Trump Administration has been engaged for months in a campaign to destroy the CDC, America’s preeminent disease-fighting agency,” said Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA), who represents the CDC’s home state. “The Administration’s extremism and incompetence are putting lives at risk.”
