Arizona Tribune - RFK Jr bashes US health agency after its chief is sacked

Appearing on Fox News, Kennedy was asked about a statement from lawyers for fired Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief Susan Monarez, who accused him of endangering millions with his anti-vaccine agenda. He used the opportunity to attack the CDC's competence and priorities.

"We saw the misinformation coming out of Covid," he said. "They got the testing wrong. They got the social distancing, the masks, the school closures that did so much harm to the American people today."

Kennedy then pivoted to attack a 1999 report from the CDC's science journal which is still available online, saying it was wrong to mention vaccination, water fluoridation and family planning as being among the 10 greatest US public health achievements of the 20th century.

"We need to look at the priorities of the agency," said Kennedy, claiming it suffered from a deeply embedded "malaise" that required "strong leadership" to restore gold-standard science.

The remarks followed the dramatic removal of Monarez, a career scientist who had held the CDC's top job for less than a month.

"The president fired her, which he has every right to do," White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Thursday, adding a replacement would be announced soon.

Monarez's lawyers argue she was improperly dismissed, saying only the president had the authority to remove her, yet the notice came from a White House staffer.

- Institutions under attack -

For more than 80 years, the CDC has been central to public health, from leading the global campaign to eradicate smallpox to identifying the first clusters of HIV-AIDS and spearheading the fight against smoking.

But health agencies have faced mounting attacks since Kennedy took office.

He disbanded an independent panel of renowned vaccine experts, severely curtailed access to Covid-19 shots, and cut federal funding to mRNA vaccines, the technology credited with saving millions of lives during the pandemic.

He has also announced a government study into the long-debunked "link" between vaccines and autism.

Tensions within the agency have built since a man reportedly motivated by anti-vaccine misinformation opened fire outside CDC headquarters in Atlanta this month, killing a police officer.

An employee union backed Monarez, saying she "chose science over politics."

Several other senior officials also resigned, including the chief medical officer and the head of the national center for immunization and respiratory diseases, which oversaw the mpox response.

"The agency is in trouble, and we need to fix it," Kennedy said of the departures. "And it may be that some people should not be working there anymore."

Before Monarez, the agency had been without a director since President Donald Trump took office in January. His original nominee, former congressman Dave Weldon, a Kennedy ally, was withdrawn on the morning of his US Senate hearing amid fading political support.

Monarez, by contrast, was seen as a more credentialed choice.

Senators will have the chance to grill Kennedy over the turmoil at a panel next Thursday.

P.Hernandez--AT