Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said the departure of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez and other senior agency officials “will require oversight” by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which he chairs.
Cassidy, initially a holdout on Health and Human Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination, was persuaded to vote for the controversial nominee in February after receiving assurances that his skeptical views on vaccines would not influence his leadership of HHS.
The Louisiana Republican posted his pledge of Senate oversight of the CDC shake-up on X late Wednesday.
The White House said earlier on Wednesday that Monarez had been terminated because she “is not aligned with [President Donald Trump’s] agenda of Making America Healthy Again,” but Monarez’s attorneys, Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell, said she had not received notice of dismissal and would not step down.
Shortly after 7 p.m., Zaid and Lowell posted a statement on X rejecting the White House narrative.
“When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts, she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda,” the statement read. “For that, she has been targeted. Dr. Monarez has neither resigned nor received notification from the White House that she has been fired, and as a person of integrity and devoted to science, she will not resign.”
The New York Times reported that Kennedy told Monarez to resign on Monday or face termination following a major clash over vaccine policy. Rather than complying with Kennedy’s directive, Monarez reportedly reached out to Cassidy, which angered Kennedy further.
A source familiar with the matter told The Hill that Monarez had been forced out after having just been confirmed by the Senate on July 29.
Trump reportedly nominated her for the position after he withdrew his original candidate, former Rep. Dave Weldon of Florida, a doctor who has expressed skepticism on vaccines.
After Monarez was ousted, four other senior CDC officials submitted their resignations via email, reportedly accusing Kennedy of weaponizing the nation’s public health agencies. They included Debra Houry, the CDC’s chief medical officer; Demetre Daskalakis, the agency’s top respiratory illness and immunization officer; Daniel Jernigan, a senior official who helped direct infectious disease response; and Jennifer Layden, who handled public health data, according to The Hill.
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