Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called the Trump administration’s effort to fire Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Susan Monarez “outrageous” and urged the Senate to hold oversight hearings on the personnel changes.
“It’s outrageous that [Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] is trying to fire the CDC Director — after only a few weeks on the job — for her commitment to public health & vaccines,” Sanders, the ranking member on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), wrote in a statement.
“The Sen. HELP Committee must hold a hearing with Kennedy & the CDC Director as soon as possible. Vaccines save lives. Period,” he continued.
The White House on Wednesday fired Monarez, who was sworn in as CDC director just a month ago, after she refused calls from HHS, which oversees the agency, to resign.
Four top CDC officials announced their resignations shortly thereafter, including Deb Houry, the chief medical officer and the agency’s deputy director for program and science.
HELP Committee Chair Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who is also a medical physician, wrote on social platform X that the “high profile departures will require oversight by the HELP Committee.”
HHS released a statement Wednesday evening saying Monarez “is no longer” the head of the agency, but her lawyers pushed back.
“Monarez has neither resigned nor received notification from the White House that she has been fired, and as a person of integrity and devoted to science, she will not resign,” attorneys Abe Lowell and Mark Zaid said.
“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,” they wrote.
The White House subsequently announced Monarez had been terminated.
“As her attorney’s statement makes abundantly clear, Susan Monarez is not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement.
“Since Susan Monarez refused to resign despite informing HHS leadership of her intent to do so, the White House has terminated Monarez from her position with the CDC,” Desai added.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Kennedy told Monarez to resign or be fired on Monday over tensions around vaccine policy.
