WASHINGTON — Fired Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez accused her ex-boss, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., of demanding she pre-approve changes to vaccine recommendations — and rebuking her for taking her concerns to Congress.
Monarez, 50, who was dismissed Aug. 27 after fewer than four weeks on the job, claimed that Kennedy, 71, had instructed her two days earlier to rubber-stamp recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) — whose membership RFK Jr. had dismissed and replaced with his own picks in June.
“He [Kennedy] directed me to commit in advance to approving every ACIP recommendation, regardless of the scientific evidence,” Monarez told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP).
“I refused to do it,” Monarez said, “because I have built a career on scientific integrity, and my worst fear was that I would then be in a position of approving something that would reduce access to lifesaving vaccines to children and others who need them.”
The ACIP exists within the CDC to provide guidance on tackling vaccine-preventable diseases, and Monarez said she insisted on the right to scrutinize its advice.
“He also directed me to dismiss career officials responsible for vaccine policy without cause,” she added of Kennedy. “He said if I was unwilling to do both, I should resign. I responded that I could not pre-approve recommendations without reviewing the evidence, and I had no basis to fire scientific experts.”
Monarez first detailed her confrontation with the HHS boss in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Sept. 4, ahead of Kennedy’s appearance before the Senate Finance Committee.
Kennedy has flatly denied Monarez’s claim that he ordered her to “rubber-stamp” vaccine reccomendations, leading the ex-CDC chef to claim that RFK Jr. was “not accurate” with his statements.
Monarez was joined Wednesday by former CDC chief medical officer Debra Houry, who resigned in protest after the director was fired.
“Secretary Kennedy censored CDC science, politicized processes, and stripped leaders of independence. I could not in good conscience remain under those conditions,” Houry told lawmakers, claiming she had been willing to keep an open mind about the longtime vaccine skeptic.
“The secretary spread misinformation and promoted unproven treatments,” Houry went on. “CDC labs and data systems are a nation’s first line of defense against pandemics and biothreats, but those defenses are being weakened under the secretary.”
One of the biggest talking points of Wednesday’s hearing centered around Kennedy’s claim to the Senate Finance Committee that Monarez had answered “no” when he asked “Are you a trustworthy person?”
Monarez rejected that version of events, saying her boss was really upset that she had gone to lawmakers with her concerns about the ACIP.
“Secretary Kennedy became aware of that, and he was very concerned that I had spoken to members of Congress,” Monarez said. “And he told me I was never to do it again.”
Later, the ex-CDC director recalled that Kennedy made clear “he could not trust me because I had shared information related to our conversation beyond his staff. I told him, ‘If you cannot trust me, then you can fire me.’”
Some GOP lawmakers, including Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, expressed skepticism about her recollection — with the Oklahoman at one point incorrectly claiming a recording of the chat would prove Monarez wrong.
Mullin later admitted to reporters that he was mistaken by claiming that the recorded existed, but added that he had heard from others who had disputed Monarez’s memory.
Other Republicans, like Sen. Ashley Moody of Florida, took issue with HELP Chairman Bill Cassidy’s (R-La.) decision to hold a hearing with Monarez and Houry at all — with Moody arguing that the former health officials were merely trying to undermine the Trump administration.
Cassidy, a gastroenterologist who reluctantly voted to confirm Kennedy as HHS secretary, insisted the committee had an obligation to weigh the former CDC officials’ claims.
“Dr. Monarez was the first CDC director requiring confirmation. We Republicans supported making the CDC director Senate-confirmed,” he stressed during his opening remarks.
“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 … What happened? Did we fail? Was there something we should have done differently?”
Both Moody and Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) attacked Monarez for being represented by attorneys Mark Zaid, who helped with efforts to impeach Trump during his first term; and Abbe Lowell, who led Hunter Biden’s defense team.
Monarez insisted she had retained Zaid to negotiate the aftermath of her firing and never discussed politics with him.
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