Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called for a bipartisan investigation into the firing of Susan Monarez as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), slamming the administration for making a “reckless” and “dangerous” decision.
“We need leaders at the CDC and [Department of Health and Human Services] who are committed to improving public health and have the courage to stand up for science, not officials who have a history of spreading bogus conspiracy theories and disinformation,” Sanders, the ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said on Thursday.
Monarez, who was only weeks into the job after being confirmed by the Senate, was removed as the CDC head on Wednesday afternoon. Hours later, she said she was not fired and will not resign.
“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. For that, she has been targeted,” Washington, D.C., attorney Mark Zaid said in a statement on Monarez’s behalf.
The White House defended the ouster on Thursday, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying that Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would name a replacement “very soon.”
“The president and Secretary Kennedy are committed to restoring trust and transparency and credibility to the CDC by ensuring their leadership and their decisions are more public-facing, more accountable, strengthening our public health system and restoring it to its core mission of protecting Americans from communicable diseases, investing in innovation to prevent, detect and respond to future threats,” Leavitt said during the press briefing.
Four other high-level officials departed the CDC on Wednesday, alleging the administration was weaponizing public health.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the chair of the HELP Committee, said the departures will “require oversight.” Later on Thursday, he called on the HHS’s advisory committee on immunization practices to indefinitely postpone a Sept. 18 meeting in the wake of the CDC departures.
Cassidy, a physician himself, was the pivotal vote during Kennedy’s confirmation as HHS secretary.
Sanders hammered Kennedy on Thursday, accusing the HHS head of “unilaterally” narrowing the eligibility for COVID-19 vaccines and spreading misinformation about the “safety and effectiveness of vaccines during the largest measles outbreak in over 30 years.”
“He continues to spread misinformation about COVID vaccines. Now he is pushing out scientific leaders who refuse to act as a rubber stamp for his dangerous conspiracy theories and manipulate science,” Sanders said.
The Vermont senator called on Cassidy to “immediately” call for a hearing and compel Kennedy, Monarez and other CDC officials who recently departed the agenc to testify.
