Ousted CDC Director Susan Monarez says RFK Jr. politicizing vaccine decisions "really concerns me"

September 17, 2025

 

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's former Director Susan Monarez and Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry are testifying before a Senate panel Wednesday, weeks after Monarez was fired and Houry and two other top leaders resigned in a dramatic shakeup at the health agency.

...

Monarez says Kennedy disparaged CDC employees, accusing them of killing children and calling them "horrible people"

"Monarez detailed Kennedy's verbal attacks on the CDC and its employees, which she said were "particularly pointed and particularly hurtful and disparaging." She said Kennedy called the CDC "the most corrupt federal agency in the world" and called its employees "horrible people." Kennedy also allegedly said CDC workers were killing children and were "bought by the pharmaceutical industry," according to Monarez.

 

The former CDC chief also recalled that Kennedy said the CDC forced people to wear masks and social distance during the COVID pandemic "like a dictatorship."  "And the one I think that hurt me the most was a particularly vivid phrase, he said, during the COVID outbreak, CDC told hospitals to turn away sick COVID patients until they had blue lips before allowing them to get treatment," Monarez said. Asked about the accuracy of Kennedy's remarks, Monarez said, "those statements are not true."

 

(more)

 

CBS News

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/cdc-susan-monarez-debra-houry-senate-testimony-rfk-jr/

 

 

Susan Monarez, former CDC director, tells Senate committee 'true reason' she was fired

"I was fired for holding the line on scientific integrity," Monarez said.

 

September 17, 2025

...

"Monarez, in her opening statement, gave a detailed timeline on the chain of events that she said led to her ouster.

 

"Since my removal, several explanations have been offered: that I told the secretary I would resign, that I was not aligned with administration priorities, or that I was untrustworthy. None of those reflect what actually happened," Monarez said.

 

Monarez said there was a meeting in which she says Kennedy told her to preemptively accept recommendations from a CDC vaccine advisory panel and to fire career officials overseeing vaccine policy.

 

"I would not commit to that, and I believe it is the true reason I was fired," Monarez said. She later added, "I was fired for holding the line on scientific integrity."

 

(more)

 

ABC News

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/susan-monarez-former-cdc-director-testify-senate-ouster/story?id=125628812

 

 

 

The stakes behind today’s hearing: CDC’s childhood vaccination schedule

"Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) pressed former CDC director Susan Monarez on whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ever discussed the childhood vaccine schedule — the recommendations issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that guide when children receive their immunizations, often timed to birthdays and other milestones. Public health experts have credited that schedule for reducing the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases and saving lives, but the HHS secretary and his allies have argued that it imposes too many shots for young children.

 

In his confirmation hearings, Kennedy told senators, “I support the childhood schedule,” but since he assumed the top health post, he has taken steps to revisit it. Monarez testified that Kennedy told her that the schedule would be changing as of September — an allusion to this week’s meeting of the CDC’s vaccine advisers, who are considering whether to roll back recommendations that newborns receive hepatitis B vaccines — and that she “needed to be on board with it.”

 

(more)

 

Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/09/17/cdc-susan-monarez-rfk-jr-senate-hearing/

 

 

I will never again take an experimental drug mandated by the government. I was so foolish to drink the kool aid of the CDC. Time to clean the deck and get rid of most of the CDC personal responsible for this travesty. 

Ousted CDC head Monarez warns senators that RFK Jr. is endangering public health

Sep 17, 2025

 

"WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s public health system is headed to a “very dangerous place” with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his team of anti-vaccine advisers in charge, fired Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief Susan Monarez warned senators on Wednesday.

 

Describing extraordinary turmoil inside the nation’s health agencies, Monarez and former CDC Chief Medical Officer Chief Debra Houry described exchanges in which Kennedy or political advisers rebuffed data supporting the safety and efficacy of vaccines.

 

Monarez, who was fired after just 29 days on the job following disagreements with Kennedy, told senators deadly diseases like polio and whooping cough, long contained, are poised to make a comeback in the U.S.

 

“I believe preventable diseases will return, and I believe we will have our children harmed by things they don’t need to be harmed by,” Monarez said before the Senate health committee.

 

(more)

 

Associated Press

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/watch-live-former-cdc-head-monarez-testifies-on-agency-upheaval-under-rfk-jr

 

 

Who cares about the biased and scare-mongering opinions of this not-to-be-trusted ousted CDC-director.  

3 hours ago, Red Phoenix said:

Who cares about the biased and scare-mongering opinions of this not-to-be-trusted ousted CDC-director.  

Let’s not forget how the liberal democrat msm politicized it against conservatives.

 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-41-percent-of-republicans-dont-plan-to-get-the-covid-vaccine
 

https://time.com/5956857/joe-biden-skeptical-republicans-covid-19-vaccine/

 

And of course….

 

”If Donald Trump tells us to take it, I’m not taking it”

 

-Kamala Harris
 

 

If RFK Jr were a doctor or scientist everyone would be happy. But he is out of his depth now.

The fish stinks from the head and got a name: Donald Trump

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mod's note:  trolling, name-calling reference removed.

3 hours ago, newbee2022 said:

The fish stinks from the head and got a name: Donald Trump

How about this?????

 

Senator Markwayne Mullin initially claimed during a Senate hearing that there was a recording of a meeting between Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and fired CDC Director Susan Monarez. He used this claim to accuse Monarez of lying about the circumstances of her dismissal. However, Mullin later walked back the statement, admitting to reporters that he was mistaken and that no such recording exists.

 

Can these people get anymore disgusting?