Top White House aide Stephen Miller has praised Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as “a crown jewel” in the Trump administration amid calls for the Health Secretary to resign over the chaos engulfing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Speaking after CDC director Susan Monarez was forced out of her job after resisting controversial vaccine policies pushed by Kennedy, Miller claimed the agency was filled with partisan hacks “who weren’t at all concerned about public health and weren’t actually very knowledgeable about public health.”
The comments came after a week of turmoil at the CDC, culminating in Monarez’s firing on Wednesday, an exodus of leadership staff, and calls by Democrats for Kennedy to resign or be fired.
However, Miller weighed in on Friday to defend Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who has spent months seeking to advance anti-vaccine policies that are contradicted by decades of scientific research.
“Secretary Kennedy has been a crown jewel of this administration who’s working tirelessly to improve public health for all Americans,” the White House deputy chief of staff told reporters on Friday.
Kennedy, the scion of America’s most famous political dynasty, was handpicked by Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services after the former Democrat-turned-independent presidential candidate promised to support him at last year’s election.
But he has come under fire for making sweeping changes to vaccine policies, including withdrawing federal recommendations for COVID shots for pregnant women and healthy children, and replacing the CDC’s expert advisory panel with anti-vaccine activists and other hand-picked advisers.
Tensions spilled over this week when Monarez was ousted less than one month after she was confirmed by the Senate to lead the public health agency.
Abbe Lowell and I represent @CDCgov Director Susan Monarez. Contrary to govt statements, Dr. Monarez has neither resigned nor yet been fired. She will not resign. We have issued the following statement: https://t.co/TILLE2Z6pF pic.twitter.com/T8LT6OknDM
— Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) August 27, 2025
While the Department of Health and Human Services offered no explanation for the sacking, her attorneys, Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell, said in a statement that she was targeted because she “refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts” as part of the administration’s political agenda.
Four other top CDC officials subsequently quit in the upheaval, citing concerns of political interference and threats to scientific integrity.
The White House has since appointed Kennedy deputy Jim O’Neill, a former investment executive who also served at the federal health department under President George W. Bush, as Monarez’s interim replacement.
However, Democrats are now calling for Kennedy to go amid the CDC chaos and comments he made linking the Minneapolis shooting this week to antidepressants.
“Just shut up. Stop peddling bulls—. You should be fired,” Minnesota Senator Tina Smith said after this week’s mass shooting in her state.
“Donald Trump knew Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would be a disastrous pick to lead health care in America and he nominated him anyway. Donald Trump made this mistake and now he must fire RFK Jr. immediately,” Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.
“FIRE HIM,” wrote Washington Senator Patty Murray on X. “He is a dangerous man who is determined to abuse his authority to act on truly terrifying conspiracy theories and disinformation.”
Kennedy has said very little about the CDC’s turmoil, but flagged further changes were coming.
“There’s a lot of trouble at the CDC and it’s going to require getting rid of some people over the long term, in order for us to change the institutional culture,” Kennedy said at a news conference in Texas.
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