Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai  ·  activity timestamp 5 days ago

New #CDC Director Is Fired, #Trump White House Says

#SusanMonarez was said to have refused to adopt #Health Secretary #RFKJr.’s stance on #vaccination policy.

The White House said late Wednesday that it had fired Susan Monarez, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, after a tense confrontation in which Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tried to remove her from her position & she refused to resign.

#science #medicine #vaccines#USpol
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/health/cdc-monarez-kennedy-vaccines.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai replied  ·  activity timestamp 5 days ago

Dr. #SusanMonarez, an #InfectiousDisease researcher, was sworn in just a month ago by #RFKJr, but had clashed with him over #vaccine policy…. 4 other high-profile #CDC officials quit en masse, apparently in frustration over vaccine #policy & RFKJr’s leadership.

Because Dr. Monarez had been confirmed by the #Senate — previous CDC directors were not subject to such confirmation — she served at the pleasure of the Trump. RFKJr most likely did not have the authority to dismiss her.

#medicine
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai replied  ·  activity timestamp 5 days ago

Dr. Monarez’s firing, along with the resignations of 4 of the #CDC’s top leaders, will undoubtedly throw the nation’s #PublicHealth agency into further turmoil after a tumultuous month in which agency employees were laid off & a gunman fired a barrage of bullets at the Atlanta headquarters, killing a policeman & terrifying employees.

#Trump#RFKJr #vaccines #science #medicine
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai replied  ·  activity timestamp 5 days ago

Dr. Monarez’s lawyers, Mark S. Zaid & Abbe Lowell, asserted in a statement earlier Wednesday that Dr. Monarez’s situation was symbolic of larger issues.

“It is about the systematic dismantling of #PublicHealth institutions, the silencing of experts, & the dangerous politicization of #science,” Mr. Zaid & Mr. Lowell wrote. “The attack on Dr. Monarez is a warning to every American: Our evidence-based systems are being undermined from within.”

#Trump#RFKJr #vaccines #medicine