Fired CDC Director Testifies in Front of Congress

On September 17, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee invited Dr. Susan Monarez, the recently terminated Director of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to testify in front of the committee on Restoring Trust Through Radical Transparency: Reviewing Recent Events at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Implications for Children’s Health. As previously reported by COSSA, Dr. Monarez was publicly terminated by the Trump Administration for allegedly refusing to pre-approve recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) after concerns that the committee was not properly reviewing research and data (read more in her op-ed for the Wall Street Journal). Dr. Monarez also claimed that she was directed by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to fire career scientists, which she refused to do. However, when questioned about her termination during an earlier Senate Finance Committee hearing, Secretary Kennedy denied her claims and argued that it is “imperative to remove officials with conflicts of interest, catastrophically bad judgement, and political agendas” (see previous COSSA coverage). Due to the uncertainty surrounding her removal, Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA) offered Dr. Monarez the opportunity to publicly dispute Secretary Kennedy. However, Chairman Cassidy made it clear that the hearing was intended to be the first-step in a long process of “uncovering the truth.” Dr. Monarez was joined by Deputy Director for Program and Science at the CDC, who resigned in protest over Dr. Monarez’s termination.

During the hearing, Dr. Monarez faced questioning from Republican lawmakers about her integrity and trustworthiness, steering their questions towards her actions following her termination, such as retaining attorneys that are, according to Senators Jim Banks (R-ID) and Ashley Moody (R-FL), “notorious for their anti-Trump activity.” Further, Sen. Moody raised concerns that Dr. Monarez had contacted Chairman Cassidy and the Committee in an attempt to undermine the President’s power, to which Chairman Cassidy disagreed and encouraged agency leaders to frequently communicate with the elected officials in Congress. Several Republican Senators accused Dr. Monarez of lying during her testimony, including Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) who claimed that there were recordings of the meetings between Secretary Kennedy and Dr. Monarez that proved his accusations. He later confirmed that these recordings did not actually exist. Finally, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) raised concerns about Secretary Kennedy instructing Dr. Monarez to fire career scientists, to which she confirmed that she was directed to “only work with the political appointees” and “not to speak or work with career scientists.” Dr. Monarez later confirmed that she was also prohibited from speaking directly to Senators under questioning from Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).

On the other side of the aisle, several Democratic lawmakers commended her for her commitment to science and transparency, including Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) who had been skeptical not of her qualifications but of her ability to stand against the Administration during her confirmation hearing in July. Further, Sen. Kaine spoke of a recent outbreak of measles in Virginia, highlighting how funding cuts to the CDC harm the ability of the agency to respond to these critical situations. Dr. Houry expanded on his statements, adding that 80 percent of CDC funding is distributed directly to states in order to address public health concerns in local communities, and raised concerns that these cuts will reduce the agency’s ability to respond to future outbreaks. In addition to the undermining of public confidence in the safety of vaccines—which has been propagated by the Trump Administration and Secretary Kennedy—these cuts could have detrimental consequences on U.S. public health.

Several Democratic lawmakers also offered Dr. Monarez the opportunity to detail the events leading up to her termination, including the August 8 shooting at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta (see coverage here). When questioned about her fears for the agency moving forward by Sen. Murphy (D-CT), Dr. Monarez stated:

“I am very concerned that the further propagation of misleading information will undermine not just the safety and health of our children, but it will also exacerbate some of these tensions.”

Dr. Houry further spoke to the reluctance of CDC staff to include their names on papers and recommendations out of fear of political violence due to the spread of misinformation on the safety of vaccines.

Follow COSSA’s continued coverage on CDC here.