Free Republic

By some strange coincidence, no sooner did I write yesterday’s post about the thoroughly corrupt CDC and its recently-fired Director, Susan Monarez, than there turns up in today’s Wall Street Journal an op-ed by the same Ms. Monarez trying to justify herself and the agency with regard to HHS Secretary RFK, Jr. The headline is “Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the CDC and Me.” The sub-headline (online edition only) is “I was fired after 29 days because I held the line and insisted on rigorous scientific review.” The article is behind the Journal’s paywall, so I will provide some substantial quotes....

He told the Senate Finance Committee that Susan Monarez told him she was not ‘trustworthy.’Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he fired Susan Monarez from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because she told him she was not “trustworthy.”Kennedy’s comments came in response to questions from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) during a Thursday hearing before the Senate Finance Committee about the agency’s plans. Warren had asked the secretary why he decided earlier this month to abruptly fire Monarez, then the CDC’s director, who was confirmed by the Senate in late July.“I told her she had to resign because...

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced senators Thursday as criticism mounts over the CDC director’s firing and COVID vaccine access cuts.Health and Human Services Secretary Robert K. Kennedy Jr appeared before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday amid calls for his resignation and defended his stance on vaccines and his decisions to fire personnel in his department. Kennedy has faced criticism, both from within HHS as well as the medical community, for the firing of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez and for reducing access to COVID-19 vaccines.He told lawmakers that he is “pro-medicine, not anti-vaccine.”...

After burying multiple Democratic Senators intent on trying to destroy his political career, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. got his chance to dunk on arguably the most notorious Senators in America. As expected, he did not disappoint. As NBC News reported, Kennedy appeared before the Senate Finance Committee to answer questions. This comes one week after Kennedy pushed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, Susan Monarez, to resign. The White House fired her when she refused, and three top CDC officials then resigned in protest. The hearing got testy in a hurry after far-left, Big Pharma hack...

At least three senior CDC officials resigned on Wednesday after Dr. Susan Moranez was ousted as the CDC Director. According to The Washington Post, Monarez departed the CDC over RFK Jr.’s push to change vaccine policy. Following the departure of Dr. Monarez, three senior CDC officials resigned per The Hill and PBS: Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; Daniel Jernigan, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, and CDC Chief Medical Officer Deb Houry. The Hill reported: At least three top officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

CDC Director Susan Monarez was fired less than a month on the job. CNN and The Washington Post and The Hill confirmed Dr. Monarez has been ousted. Details of Monarez’s departure from the CDC are not immediately available. The Hill reported: Susan Monarez, the longtime government scientist recently confirmed as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has been let go from her position after less than a month in the role. A source familiar with the situation confirmed to The Hill that Monarez is ousted as CDC director. The Senate confirmed her on July 29. The...

The U.S. Senate voted… along party lines, 51 to 47, to confirm Susan Monarez as the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Monarez has been serving as the acting head of the CDC since January, and previously worked as the head of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. At her confirmation hearing before the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) committee on July 9, Monarez garnered praise from the Republican chairman, Sen. Bill Cassidy, who is a physician, for her commitment to rebuilding public trust in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Democratic Sen....

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stands at a crossroads. After years of pandemic fallout, opioid deaths, and declining public trust, the agency needs bold, decisive leadership. What it doesn’t require is another physician at the helm. In recent years, the CDC has almost exclusively been led by physicians, clinicians whose primary training, instincts, and oath revolve around caring for individual patients. But medicine and public health, though deeply related, are fundamentally different. Medicine treats individuals. Public health protects populations. Leading the CDC is less about diagnosis and more about infrastructure, logistics, and prevention. It is a...

The Trump administration withdrew the nomination of former Florida Rep. David Weldon (R) to head the CDC earlier this month, with the former lawmaker saying the reason was the lack of sufficient support among Republicans to secure his confirmation. President Trump chose Susan Monarez, a longtime federal employee and current acting CDC director, as his new pick. Monarez has served as acting CDC director since Jan. 23, 2025. Prior to this, she served as deputy director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). Before entering government work, she was a science and technology policy fellow with the American...

President Trump on Monday selected Dr. Susan Monarez, the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for the permanent role, replacing David Weldon, whose nomination was withdrawn because of senators' opposition. Monarez has worked in federal government since 2006. Until her appointment to the Trump administration on Jan. 23, she was deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services. Previously she worked in the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the U.S. National Security Council and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. "Dr. Monarez brings decades of experience...