WASHINGTON -- A Wednesday Senate hearing aimed to answer questions about the exodus of top leaders from the CDC
"WASHINGTON — A Wednesday Senate hearing aimed to answer questions about the exodus of top leaders from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month. Instead, it raised a host of new ones.
Former CDC Director Susan Monarez and former Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry detailed how health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. muzzled their agency, expanded the roles of political appointees, and pushed ideas without scientific backing. All were a departure from the “radical transparency” and “gold-standard” science he promised senators, and risk making the nation sicker, not healthier, they said.
They also outlined Kennedy’s short-term plans, which could include overhauling the childhood vaccine schedule and further politicizing agencies like the CDC to reflect his beliefs and agenda. Kennedy and the Department of Health and Human Services have disputed the former officials’ accounts.
The hearing marks a crucial point in Kennedy’s tenure, when his views on vaccines are clearly influencing federal government policy and potentially distancing him from important allies."
https://www.statnews.com/2025/09/17/monarez-senate-takeaways-rfk-political-influence-cdc-vaccines/