U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro called for the firing of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday, arguing that he has 鈥渟et us back decades鈥� by firing scientific experts working on infectious disease prevention.
Her pushback comes shortly after the of Susan Monarez, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after some back-and-forth on her employment status. That prompted the resignation of a few other officials at the CDC, which is overseen by Kennedy鈥檚 health agency.
DeLauro, who is the top Democrat on the House Appropriations鈥� Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, has been critical since Kennedy took the helm. At a hearing in May, she accused him of 鈥渨reaking havoc鈥� because of federal funding cuts to health programs and research.
The White House said Monarez was no longer in support of President Donald Trump鈥檚 agenda, as well as the 鈥淢ake America Healthy Again鈥� movement promoted by Kennedy, but didn鈥檛 give a specific reason for her firing. Monarez鈥檚 lawyers said in a statement that she 鈥渞efused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts.鈥�
鈥淲e know his agenda 鈥� he wants to take away lifesaving vaccines from kids and families. But there are principled experts, like the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Susan Monarez, who refused to rubber-stamp RFK Jr鈥檚 plans that would hurt millions of children,鈥� DeLauro, who represents 黑料新闻鈥檚 3rd District, said in a statement on Thursday.
鈥淵esterday鈥檚 firing of the CDC Director, and the resignations of top CDC experts, shows us what is at stake and the urgency with which we must act. RFK Jr. was never qualified to be secretary of HHS, and he never should have been allowed to set foot in the building. The longer we wait, the more lives we risk,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t is time for RFK Jr. to be fired.鈥�
Monarez had been serving as the acting director of the CDC before she was sworn in as the permanent head late last month. But on Wednesday, a few weeks into the job, HHS posted on social media that she was no longer serving in that role.
Her lawyers pushed back in a statement that she had not resigned or been terminated. But by later Wednesday evening, the White House had formally fired Monarez. Shortly after, three other key officials at the CDC resigned in response.
Demetre Daskalakis, who was serving as the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, was one of the officials to resign. He argued there was a lack of transparency and the manipulation of data for political purposes.
鈥淚 am unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public鈥檚 health,鈥� Daskalakis wrote in his resignation letter.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the decision at Thursday鈥檚 press briefing, confirming that the president ultimately fired her. Leavitt pointed to Monarez鈥檚 own lawyers saying she wasn鈥檛 aligned with the administration.
鈥淭he president has the authority to fire those who are not aligned with his mission,鈥� Leavitt told reporters, adding that Trump and Kennedy are 鈥渃ommitted to restoring trust and transparency and credibility to the CDC.鈥� She said one of them will have an announcement soon on who will be nominated as director.
The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment about DeLauro鈥檚 remarks about Kennedy and Monarez鈥檚 firing.
The shakeup at the CDC comes amid the rollout of new restrictions around the COVID vaccine for the fall and as cases are starting to rise as children head back to school.
The Food and Drug Administration, which is overseen by Kennedy鈥檚 HHS, announced Wednesday it approved updated COVID vaccines as well as for a much more limited pool of people who should get the shot. It is now authorized for those who are 65 and older as well as for those with a medical condition that puts them at higher risk of illness.
At Thursday鈥檚 briefing, a reporter asked Leavitt if vaccines will still be available and covered by insurance for people seeking them regardless of their age or whether they have a preexisting condition.
Leavitt said the FDA revoked the emergency authorizations because of the end of the pandemic but said the policy around the COVID vaccines 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 affect vaccine availability for Americans who want them.鈥� But she didn鈥檛 say explicitly whether insurers will continue to cover the vaccine for those outside of the recommendations.
Citing revised vaccine policies and other changes at the top health department, DeLauro argued, 鈥淲e are seeing the consequence of his leadership at HHS.鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 fired scientific experts who keep Americans safe from infectious diseases, including HIV, tuberculosis and measles. We have already seen a resurgence of, and deaths caused by, measles 鈥� a disease that had been eliminated in America 鈥� and because of him, we will see new disease outbreaks going forward,鈥� DeLauro said. 鈥淗e has pushed out world-class scientists who are working on cures and treatments for Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, cancer, and other debilitating diseases.鈥�
The 黑料新闻 Mirror/黑料新闻 Radio federal policy reporter position is made possible, in part, by funding from the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation.
