Senate hearing re RFKJ's direction at DHS

 

Susan Monarez, the former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, defended her short tenure at the embattled public health agency.

She testified that she was ousted last month because she refused to cede to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s demands to pre-approve vaccine recommendations for the public and fire career scientists.

"He just wanted blanket approval," Monarez told members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Wednesday. "Even under pressure, I could not replace evidence with ideology."

Monarez described a string of events that she said eventually led to her dismissal, culminating with a "tense" meeting in late August when she clashed with Kennedy over his plans for an influential CDC committee that issues recommendations on vaccines.

  NPR

This is the woman RFKJ testified said "No" when he asked her if she could be trusted, and that's why he fired her. Obvious bullshit, but if she did, it's because he asked if she could be trusted to do whatever he told her to do.

In response to several questions from senators, Monarez recounted her memory of a conversation with Kennedy that precipitated her firing, saying Kennedy told her he couldn't trust her. "I told him, if he could not trust me, he could fire me," she testified.

[...]

According to her testimony, Kennedy told Monarez at the time that the "childhood vaccine schedule would be changing starting in September" and that she "needed to be on board."

"He was very upset," Monarez said. "He called CDC the most corrupt federal agency in the world, emphasized that CDC employees were horrible people. He said that CDC employees were killing children and they don't care."

Kennedy told her he had "already spoken with the White House several times about having" her removed, she said.

[...]

Monarez was the first CDC director ever confirmed by the Senate.

When she was sworn in, Kennedy himself stated that she had "unimpeachable scientific credentials."

[...]

The hearing was marked by some heated exchanges between Monarez and Republicans on the committee who took aim at her decision to hire attorneys who have represented clients that have sued President Trump and tried to poke holes in her recounting of events.

"All we're looking for is you to be honest, and you haven't been," Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla. fired at Monarez, claiming that her conversation with Kennedy had been recorded – only to later tell reporters that he'd been mistaken.

[...]

"This is not about you. It's about trust in our public institutions," Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said, "What happens to this scientific mission when there are no career public health professionals that are in these positions to advise on the policy and to protect the scientific integrity?"

I fear we're about to find out.

"I owe you an apology," said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., "I had concern about your backbone and I was wrong."

[...]

Also testifying was the CDC's former chief medical officer, Dr. Deb Houry, who resigned alongside other top agency officials at the end of last month in protest of changes at CDC.

Houry said she resigned "because Secretary Kennedy's actions repeatedly censored CDC science, politicized our processes, and stripped agency leaders of the ability to protect the health of the American people." She added that she felt CDC leaders "were expected to serve as rubber stamps for the secretary's decisions."

[...]

The hearing comes on the eve of the next meeting of the vaccine advisory committee, which is scheduled for Thursday morning in Atlanta. The panel is expected to re-evaluate the vaccine schedule for hepatitis B and the MMRV vaccine for children, and on the COVID-19 vaccine.

In June, Kennedy fired the entire 17-member Advisory Panel on Immunization Practices, chose several new members at the time and selected five more on Monday. Many of the members he chose have a history of being critical of vaccines.

And the others likely assured Kennedy they were against vaccines, too.

The hearing was just the latest reminder of the ongoing turbulence at the CDC where Kennedy has replaced many career scientists in leadership positions with political appointees, pushed debunked claims related to the safety of vaccines and scrapped long-standing processes for crafting vaccine policy.