During a contentious Senate committee hearing on Wednesday, Dr. Susan Monarez, the recently ousted head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), testified that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. systematically disregarded scientific principles in his efforts to dismantle established vaccine policies and impose his own agenda.
Dr. Monarez, who was dismissed in late August after serving less than a month, presented a troubling account of the state of vaccine policy under Secretary Kennedy. Her testimony also set the stage for an upcoming meeting of a crucial CDC vaccine panel over the next two days.
This panel is slated to review several critical immunizations, including COVID-19, hepatitis B, and the MMRV vaccine (for measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox). Their decisions could potentially overturn years of established vaccine guidance.
Throughout the hearing, Democratic senators voiced strong opposition to Secretary Kennedy, pressing Dr. Monarez for specific examples of what she characterized as his attempts to force her to endorse his policies without proper scrutiny.
She told senators that the hearing needed to highlight growing anxieties about “the future of trust in public health.” Dr. Debra Houry, the former chief medical officer of the CDC who also resigned, corroborated this, stating that Kennedy consistently ignored or failed to consult scientific data supporting vaccine efficacy. She explicitly called for his resignation.
However, Andrew Nixon, spokesperson for Health and Human Services, refuted Dr. Monarez’s claims. He asserted that she was fired for sabotaging the president’s agenda and maintained that Secretary Kennedy’s focus was on rebuilding public trust in the CDC.
Meanwhile, some Republican committee members used the platform to reiterate their critiques of the CDC’s pandemic-era guidance. They argued that the agency’s past policies regarding vaccines and other public health measures inadvertently contributed to vaccine hesitancy and eroded public trust in science.
Here are the five key insights from the hearing:
Kennedy’s Intention: Reshaping the Childhood Vaccine Schedule
The CDC’s existing immunization guidelines currently safeguard children against 16 diseases. Dr. Monarez testified that Secretary Kennedy claimed daily conversations with President Trump regarding adjustments to this established regimen.
Secretary Kennedy has consistently opposed the standard childhood vaccine schedule. He specifically questioned the necessity of the hepatitis B shot administered to newborns, a concern echoed by several senators during the proceedings.
Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who chairs the health committee and is a liver specialist himself, concluded the hearing by passionately highlighting the dramatic decrease in hepatitis B rates following the CDC’s recommendation for newborn vaccination. He asserted, ‘That is an accomplishment to Make America Healthy Again,’ deliberately echoing Secretary Kennedy’s campaign slogan.
During his career as an anti-vaccine advocate, Secretary Kennedy has frequently criticized various immunizations. He has also falsely alleged that the polio vaccine could have been responsible for a surge in cancers, claiming these cancers ‘killed many, many, many, many, many more people than polio ever did.’
In a controversial move in June, Kennedy fired all 17 members of the critical Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) vaccine panel, subsequently appointing his own replacements.
Dr. Monarez expressed profound apprehension about the panel’s impending sessions this week and the decisions they might render.
Following the hearing, Senator Cassidy warned reporters that Americans should harbor no confidence in any changes to the childhood vaccine schedule originating from the newly appointed committee.
Dr. Monarez Details the Circumstances Leading to Her Dismissal
Dr. Monarez elaborated on the chain of events preceding her termination. She recounted to senators that during three meetings with Secretary Kennedy on August 25th, he instructed her to dismiss vaccine scientists without providing any valid reasons.
Furthermore, she stated that Kennedy demanded a pledge of her advance approval for all future recommendations from the CDC’s influential vaccine committee, regardless of their content. ‘He just wanted blanket approval,’ Dr. Monarez testified.
According to Monarez, Secretary Kennedy then told her she must resign if she refused his directives. In response, Dr. Monarez contacted lawmakers, including Senator Cassidy. When Kennedy discovered she had reached out to senators, he reportedly informed her that he no longer trusted her.
“I told him that if he could not trust me, he could fire me,” Dr. Monarez concluded.
Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) challenged Dr. Monarez’s account, accusing her of ‘not being truthful’ about the meeting and warning her that it had been recorded. He later admitted to reporters that he had been mistaken about the recording’s existence.
Dr. Monarez described Secretary Kennedy as ‘very animated’ and ‘very upset’ during their discussions, alleging he made several false accusations against the CDC, including claiming its ’employees were killing children and they don’t care.’
Kennedy’s Unorthodox Policy Rollouts: Online Announcements and Lack of Transparency
Despite Secretary Kennedy’s repeated calls for ‘radical transparency’ within national public health institutions, both Dr. Monarez and Dr. Houry testified that they were frequently excluded from discussions regarding significant policy changes.
Dr. Houry disclosed that she first learned of crucial changes to COVID-19 vaccine policies through a 58-second video posted by Secretary Kennedy and other HHS officials on X (formerly Twitter) in May. This announcement stated that the CDC would no longer recommend the vaccine for healthy children and pregnant women.
She added that, to date, CDC scientists have not been provided with any scientific evidence to substantiate these controversial policy shifts.
Furthermore, Dr. Houry testified that the Health Secretary’s office mandated the removal of an official document from the agency’s website, a document that detailed evidence refuting any link between the vaccine preservative thimerosal and autism.
Grave Concerns for the Nation’s Health Expressed by Dr. Monarez
Both Dr. Monarez and Dr. Houry voiced deep concern that eroding public trust in vaccine science would inevitably lead to a dangerous resurgence of preventable diseases across the United States.
“I believe that our children will suffer harm from diseases that we know are preventable—polio, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough,” Dr. Monarez stated. They warned that as faith in public health institutions diminishes, the nation’s capacity to manage future pandemics and existing outbreaks is severely compromised.
Dr. Houry concluded, “While there is always work to be done to improve national health, actively dismantling the institutions and evidence-based processes designed to detect, prevent, and respond to health challenges, as Secretary Kennedy is doing, means sacrificing proven public health achievements for entirely avoidable harm.”
Republicans Pinpoint CDC as the Source of Public Distrust
A number of Republican committee members used the hearing as an opportunity to criticize the CDC’s pandemic-era policies, condemning the agency’s earlier recommendations for masks, social distancing, school closures, and COVID-19 vaccines for children.
“I think the CDC is the cause of vaccine hesitancy, that you are the problem,” declared Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS). Secretary Kennedy has frequently voiced similar opinions, and a clip of the senator’s remarks was even shared on the Department of Health and Human Services’ official X account.
Dr. Monarez clarified to the senators that the CDC does not mandate vaccines; rather, it issues recommendations. She consistently advocated for parents to make vaccination decisions in close consultation with their pediatricians.