US health agency in chaos as RFK sacks boss who ‘confronted’ him over vaccines

Washington: The Trump administration has fired the head of the nation’s top public health agency just weeks into her tenure, and several other senior leaders have resigned, as disputes with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr over vaccine policy explode into the open.

The ouster of United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention director Susan Monarez follows a confrontation she had on Monday with Kennedy, in which she pushed back against his vaccine stance, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorised to speak publicly.

Monarez had told CDC employees she had been asked to attend a Health and Human Services Department meeting in person in Washington on Monday, according to an internal staff message viewed by Bloomberg.

In a statement on Wednesday night, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said that Monarez “is not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again”.

Earlier that day, after the department had said Monarez was no longer the CDC’s director, lawyers representing her said that she was being “targeted” because she “refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts”.

They accused Kennedy of “weaponising public health for political gain” and “putting millions of American lives at risk” by sacking health officials.

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the ranking member of the Senate health committee, quickly called for a hearing with Kennedy about the firing.

At least three senior CDC leaders told co-workers they were resigning on Wednesday, according to emails viewed by Bloomberg.

Demetre Daskalakis, the director of the National Centre for Immunisation and Respiratory Diseases; Deb Houry, the chief medical officer and deputy director for program and science at CDC; and Dan Jernigan, the director of the National Centre for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, notified workers of their departures.

The resignations come weeks after the CDC was targeted by a gunman, leaving a police officer dead, and underscores the growing distrust between many longtime agency scientists and Kennedy. Current and former department employees wrote an open letter blaming Kennedy for spreading vaccine misinformation that they argued fuelled the gunman’s attack on August 8.

The removal of Monarez injects new uncertainty for workers after massive layoffs earlier in the year and has intensified concerns about scientific integrity at the public health agency.

Daskalakis, Houry and Jernigan couldn’t be reached for comment.

“I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponizing of public health,” Daskalakis wrote in a resignation email to colleagues. “You are the best team I have ever worked with, and you continue to shine despite this dark cloud over the agency and our profession.”

A clash over COVID

Kennedy’s controversial views on vaccines were already the subject of open dispute. The Food and Drug Administration approved COVID-19 vaccine shots for a far narrower group than was eligible to receive them last year.

While in 2024, the agency cleared the vaccines for everyone over the age of six months, this season, only those aged 65 and over or with underlying conditions will be able to get them without first consulting a doctor. The move followed a demand from Kennedy in May for manufacturers to further test their vaccines.

The decision drew rebukes from medical groups, who recommend them for most children and adults. The Infectious Diseases Society of America said Kennedy’s tougher stance on COVID vaccination put millions of lives at risk.

Earlier in the week, Jen Layden, the director for the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology, also told staff she was resigning, according to people familiar with the matter. The chief operating officer and longtime CDC employee Christa Capozzola was also replaced, according to people familiar with the matter. Neither could be reached for comment.

‘Hand-picked’

In March, Kennedy said he “hand-picked” Monarez for the director position. She was confirmed in late July after President Donald Trump’s first choice for the post, Dave Weldon, was abruptly withdrawn over concerns about his vaccine views.

She is the first CDC director who was confirmed by the Senate, after a new law passed after the COVID-19 pandemic required lawmakers to approve nominees for the position.

Because the role is now a presidential appointment, the White House needs to authorise a decision to fire the CDC director, though the individual could choose to resign.

“This is yet another example of Kennedy’s chaotic approach to public health,” former principal deputy director of the agency Nirav Shah said. “At a time of increasing threats to public health, what the CDC needs is stable leadership. This type of instability will not make America healthy again.”

In May, the White House pulled its nomination for Janette Nesheiwat to be US surgeon-general shortly before her confirmation hearing. Trump later nominated Casey Means to be surgeon-general, citing her “impeccable ‘MAHA’ credentials”.

Before being tapped to be the acting head of the CDC, Monarez was deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, a federal agency created during the Biden administration that set out to fund innovative biomedical research.

Monarez has had a long career in government service, unlike some of Trump’s other picks for top health roles in his administration. She worked on artificial intelligence and biosecurity issues in various roles in government, including in the Obama White House.

“The attack on Dr Monarez is a warning to every American: our evidence-based systems are being undermined from within,” her lawyers Mark Zaid and Abbe David Lowell said in their statement. “Science and integrity can never be compromised.”

Bloomberg

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