The former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told members of a Senate committee on Wednesday that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. advised her “never” to express concerns about Health and Human Services policy to Congress.
Susan Monarez, who was fired after 29 days in a clash with Kennedy over vaccines, testified before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Her allegations that Kennedy sought to restrict lawmakers’ access to CDC deliberations come just one day before Kennedy’s vaccine advisory panel meets to review vaccine recommendations.
Monarez told senators that Kennedy became “very upset” when she told him she wouldn’t go along with his requests on vaccine approvals and that he attacked the CDC as “corrupt” and claimed employees were responsible for “killing children.” The former director said she believed she was fired for “holding the line on scientific integrity.”
“Secretary Kennedy became aware of that, and he was very concerned that I had spoken to members of Congress,” Monarez said. “He told me I was never to do it again.”
Kennedy has denied that he fired Monarez for her refusal to approve the new vaccine recommendations.
“I would not commit to that, and I believe it is the true reason I was fired,” Monarez said.
Earlier in September, Kennedy testified that he asked Monarez to resign after she admitted she was “not trustworthy.”
“I told her she had to resign because I asked, ‘Are you a trustworthy person?’ and she said, ‘No,'” Kennedy told lawmakers.
When asked by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., about the events, Monarez answered, “He told me he could not trust me because I had shared information related to our conversation beyond his staff. I told him, ‘If you cannot trust me, then you can fire me.'”
In a statement to Axios, a Health Department official said Monarez was fired because she was not the person to bring back “public trust” to the CDC.
“Susan is grossly distorting the Secretary’s clear and consistent expectation that all HHS staff follow standard, long-standing protocols for communicating with Congress through the office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation,” the spokesperson said.
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