Sep 17, 2025; Washington, DC, USA; Susan Monarez, former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 17, 2025. On Aug. 27, Monarez was fired from the CDC amid a policy disagreement with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Mandatory Credit: Josh Morgan-USA TODAY
Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Wednesday, offering the most detailed account yet of why she believes she was ousted just weeks into the job.
Fired For Holding The Line
Sep 17, 2025; Washington, DC, USA; Susan Monarez, former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 17, 2025. On Aug. 27, Monarez was fired from the CDC amid a policy disagreement with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Mandatory Credit: Josh Morgan-USA TODAY
Monarez, who served only 29 days as CDC director, told senators her firing stemmed directly from her refusal to preemptively endorse changes to childhood vaccine schedules without scientific backing and to dismiss career scientists who oversaw vaccine policy. “I was fired for holding the line on scientific integrity,” she said flatly, rejecting the swirl of explanations floated since her dismissal.
What Happened Here?
Sep 17, 2025; Washington, DC, USA; Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Ky.) asks questions as Susan Monarez, former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 17, 2025. On Aug. 27, Monarez was fired from the CDC amid a policy disagreement with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Mandatory Credit: Josh Morgan-USA TODAY
The testimony marked her first public appearance since leaving the agency and came after weeks of mounting tension between Kennedy and both parties in Congress. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and physician who helped confirm Kennedy to his current post, opened the hearing by asking whether the Senate itself had failed in its vetting. “What happened here?” he asked, pointing to the contrast between bipartisan praise Monarez received at her swearing-in and the abrupt, unexplained termination that followed.
RFK Was Going To Do What He Wanted
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies at a Senate hearing in Washington, DC, on Sept. 4, 2025.
Monarez outlined a pivotal meeting with Kennedy, during which she said he instructed her to accept the recommendations of a reconstituted CDC vaccine advisory panel and to remove officials seen as obstacles. When she balked, she said, Kennedy told her the administration planned to move forward regardless. She also alleged Kennedy consulted directly with the White House several times about her removal.
Kennedy Denies Everything
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies about the health care agenda for the Trump administration in front of the Senate Committee on Finance in Washington, D.C., on September 4, 2025.
Kennedy has denied her version of events. Earlier this month, under questioning from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., he rejected claims that he pressured Monarez to endorse changes at odds with scientific evidence. In his telling, Monarez admitted she was “untrustworthy” and effectively resigned. The sharp contradictions between their accounts have only deepened concerns among lawmakers about transparency at HHS.
A Mess At The CDC
Sep 17, 2025; Washington, DC, USA; Debra Houry, former Chief Medical Officer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 17, 2025. Mandatory Credit: Josh Morgan-USA TODAY
Adding weight to Monarez’s testimony was the presence of Deb Houry, a former senior CDC official who resigned in protest after Monarez’s ouster. Houry and three other top deputies walked away from the agency, warning that Kennedy was pushing them to adopt vaccine policies without data to support the changes.
The CDC is in Real Trouble
Sep 17, 2025; Washington, DC, USA; Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks as Susan Monarez, former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 17, 2025. Mandatory Credit: Josh Morgan-USA TODAY
The broader stakes of the dispute are hard to miss. Kennedy has already canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in federal vaccine contracts, limited COVID-19 vaccine access for children and pregnant women, and replaced the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee with his own picks, some openly critical of vaccines. Monarez warned senators this could lead to decisions restricting access to vaccines without rigorous review. “With no permanent CDC director in place,” she said, “those recommendations could be adopted unchecked.” For now, the fallout is political as well as scientific. Republicans like Cassidy, who once championed Kennedy’s nomination, are beginning to distance themselves. Democrats have gone further, with Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester flatly declaring Kennedy “unsafe for America” and urging his removal. Even GOP leaders like Sen. Susan Collins and Majority Leader John Thune have questioned the justification for firing Monarez.
