During a tense Senate committee hearing on Wednesday, Dr. Susan Monarez, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), vehemently stated that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. deliberately ignored scientific evidence, undermining long-established vaccine policies and demanding unquestioning acceptance of his own opinions.
Dr. Monarez, who was controversially dismissed from her role after less than a month in late August, appeared before the Senate health committee. Her testimony painted a stark picture of the volatile state of vaccine policy under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, also foreshadowing critical discussions at an upcoming CDC vaccine panel meeting over the next two days.
The panel is set to review several vital immunizations, including those for Covid, hepatitis B, and the M.M.R.V. vaccine which protects against measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox. Their findings could potentially overturn decades of established vaccine recommendations.
Democratic senators at the hearing voiced strong opposition to Secretary Kennedy, pressing Dr. Monarez for specifics on what she characterized as his attempts to coerce her into blindly approving his policies.
Dr. Monarez urged senators to recognize the hearing’s importance in addressing “the future of trust in public health.” Dr. Debra Houry, who also stepped down as the CDC’s chief medical officer, corroborated these concerns, testifying that Secretary Kennedy consistently disregarded or failed to consult scientific data regarding vaccine efficacy. Dr. Houry publicly called for his resignation.
Andrew Nixon, spokesperson for Health and Human Services, countered Dr. Monarez’s allegations, stating she was terminated for undermining the president’s agenda. He insisted that Secretary Kennedy’s focus was on rebuilding public confidence in the CDC.
Conversely, some Republican committee members used the hearing as a platform to reiterate their criticisms of the CDC’s pandemic-era guidelines, including vaccine recommendations and other public health measures. They contended that the agency’s past policies inadvertently fueled vaccine hesitancy and eroded scientific trust.
Below are the five key insights from the proceedings.
Secretary Kennedy’s Push to Alter Childhood Vaccine Schedule
The CDC’s existing immunization guidelines currently safeguard children against 16 different diseases. Dr. Monarez revealed that Secretary Kennedy claimed to be in “daily” communication with President Trump about modifying this established regimen.
For years, Secretary Kennedy has openly criticized the standard childhood vaccine schedule, specifically targeting the hepatitis B vaccine administered to newborns. This particular recommendation also became a point of inquiry for several senators during the hearing.
Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana, who chairs the health committee and is a liver specialist himself, concluded the hearing with an impassioned defense of the hepatitis B vaccine. He highlighted how disease rates significantly dropped in the decades following the CDC’s recommendation for newborns, echoing Secretary Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” slogan to emphasize this achievement.
Throughout his career as an anti-vaccine activist, Secretary Kennedy has consistently criticized numerous immunizations. He has also falsely alleged that the polio vaccine was responsible for a surge in cancers, claiming it “killed many, many, many, many, many more people than polio ever did.”
In June, Secretary Kennedy controversially dismissed all 17 members of the influential Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) vaccine panel, personally selecting their replacements.
Expressing deep apprehension, Dr. Monarez conveyed her concern about the panel’s impending sessions this week and the decisions they are poised to make.
Following the hearing, Senator Cassidy warned reporters that any alterations to the childhood vaccine schedule originating from this committee should not inspire public confidence.
The Events Leading to Dr. Monarez’s Dismissal
Dr. Monarez offered a more detailed account of the circumstances preceding her termination, testifying that she met with Secretary Kennedy three times on August 25. During these meetings, she stated, he demanded that she dismiss vaccine scientists without any valid reason.
Furthermore, she testified that Secretary Kennedy sought a pre-emptive commitment from her to approve the upcoming recommendations of the CDC’s influential vaccine committee, sight unseen. “He just wanted blanket approval,” Dr. Monarez explained.
Secretary Kennedy, according to Dr. Monarez, then told her to resign if she wouldn’t comply. She subsequently contacted lawmakers, including Senator Cassidy. Upon discovering her outreach to senators, Secretary Kennedy reportedly declared he no longer trusted her.
In response, Dr. Monarez recalled telling him, “If you cannot trust me, you can fire me.”
Senator Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, publicly accused Dr. Monarez of being “not truthful” about the meeting, incorrectly asserting that it had been recorded. He later admitted his mistake to reporters.
Dr. Monarez described Secretary Kennedy as “very animated” and “very upset” during their discussions, alleging he made several false claims about the CDC, including that its “employees were killing children and they don’t care.”
Policy Shifts Announced via Social Media, Bypassing Science
Despite Secretary Kennedy’s public advocacy for “radical transparency” in public health, both Dr. Monarez and Dr. Houry testified that they were often deliberately excluded from policy discussions and kept uninformed about significant changes.
Dr. Houry disclosed that she discovered changes to Covid vaccine policies through a post on the social media platform X. In a video announcement in May, Secretary Kennedy and other Health and Human Services officials declared that the CDC was reversing its recommendation for healthy children and pregnant women to receive the vaccine.
She emphasized that CDC scientists have yet to be presented with any scientific evidence supporting these policy reversals.
According to Dr. Houry, Secretary Kennedy’s office also mandated the removal of a CDC website document that debunked the false claim linking the vaccine preservative thimerosal to autism.
Grave Concerns for America’s Public Health Future
Both Dr. Monarez and Dr. Houry voiced profound concern that eroding public trust in vaccine science would inevitably lead to a dangerous resurgence of preventable diseases across the United States.
Dr. Monarez stated, “I believe that we will have our children harmed for things that we know they do not need to be harmed by — polio, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough.” Both doctors warned that as confidence in public health agencies deteriorates, the nation’s capacity to confront future pandemics and manage existing outbreaks is severely compromised.
Dr. Houry acknowledged that “there is certainly still work to be done to improve the health of our nation.” However, she critically added, “But when we erode the institutions and processes that deliver evidence-based interventions to detect, prevent and respond to health challenges, as Secretary Kennedy is doing, we trade proven gains for avoidable harm.”
Republicans Pin Blame on CDC for Eroding Public Trust
During the hearing, several Republican committee members seized the opportunity to re-examine the CDC’s pandemic-era policies, condemning the agency’s previous recommendations for masks, social distancing, early school closures, and Covid vaccines for children.
Senator Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican, asserted, “I think the CDC is the cause of vaccine hesitancy, that you are the problem.” Secretary Kennedy has consistently echoed these sentiments, and the Department of Health and Human Services even shared a clip of the senator’s remarks on its official X account.
Dr. Monarez clarified for the senators that the CDC’s role is not to mandate vaccines but to provide recommendations. She reiterated her stance that parents should make vaccination decisions in close consultation with their pediatricians.