NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s top public health agency was left reeling Thursday as the White House worked to expel the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director and replace her with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ‘s current deputy.
The turmoil triggered rare bipartisan alarm as Kennedy tries to advance anti-vaccine policies that are contradicted by decades of scientific research.
Two administration officials said Jim O’Neill, the second-in-command at the Department of Health and Human Services, would supplant Susan Monarez, a longtime government scientist. O’Neill, a former investment executive who also served at the federal health department under President George W. Bush, does not have a medical background. The officials, who confirmed the change, requested anonymity to discuss personnel decisions before a public announcement.
A flashpoint is expected in the coming weeks as a key advisory committee, which Kennedy has reshaped with vaccine skeptics, is expected to issue new recommendations on immunizations. The panel is scheduled to review standard childhood shots for measles, hepatitis and other diseases.
Two Republican senators called for congressional oversight and some Democrats said Kennedy should be fired. He is scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill on Sept. 4.
No explanation given for CDC director’s ouster
Kennedy has not explained the decision to oust Monarez less than a month after she was sworn in, but he warned that more turnover may be ahead.
“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.
The White House has only said that Monarez was “not aligned with” President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Monarez’s lawyers said she refused “to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts.” She is fighting her dismissal, saying the decision must come directly from Trump, who nominated her in March. The president has not said anything publicly about the matter.
It’s unclear if O’Neill, who was just sworn in as HHS’ deputy secretary, will remain in both roles as acting CDC director.
Monarez tried to block political interference, departing CDC officials say
The saga began Wednesday night with the administration’s announcement that Monarez would no longer lead the CDC. In response, three officials — Dr. Debra Houry, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis and Dr. Daniel Jernigan — resigned from senior roles at the agency.
The officials returned to the office Thursday to collect their belongings, and hundreds of supporters gathered to applaud them as they left the Atlanta campus. There were bouquets of flowers, cheers and chants of “USA not RFK.”
Daskalakis, who resigned as head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said, “I fear that children will be hurt by poor decision making around vaccines.”
“You cannot dismantle public health and expect it to still work,” he said.
Jernigan stepped down as director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases and Houry quit her post as the agency’s deputy director and chief medical officer.
Houry told The Associated Press that Monarez had tried to guard against political meddling in scientific research and health recommendations.
