Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Susan Monarez that the childhood vaccine schedule would be changed this month, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said during an appearance before a Senate committee on Wednesday.
“He said that the childhood vaccine schedule would be changing starting in September, and I needed to be on board with it,” Monarez said in response to a question from Sen. Bill Cassidy.
Monarez, appearing before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, alleged that she was fired last month because she refused to carry out orders from Kennedy that were “inconsistent with my oath of office and ethics of a public health official.”
“I refused to commit to approving vaccine recommendations without evidence, fire career officials without cause, or resign,” said Monarez, who was fired from the CDC director position in August after less than a month on the job.
Monarez said that during her brief tenure, Kennedy attempted to exert influence over her policy and personnel decisions, going so far as to order Monarez to run all of her decisions by the political appointees in her office before they could be finalized.
“I was concerned about my ability to continue to lead while preserving evidence-based decision making,” Monarez said.
Monarez told Cassidy she was open to changing the childhood vaccine schedule “if the science or evidence was supportive” — but Kennedy “did not have any data or science to point to.”
Monarez told senators Kennedy also asked her to commit to “blanket approval” of recommendations from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices before they were announced. Kennedy fired all 17 members of the ACIP in June and has replaced them with members of his own choosing, many of whom hold anti-vaccine or vaccine-skeptical views. The ACIP is meeting later this week and is expected to place further restrictions on childhood vaccines.
Monarez also said Kennedy asked her to meet with Aaron Siri, Kennedy’s former personal lawyer and an anti-vaccine activist.
Monarez appeared before the HELP committee at the invitation of Committee Chairman Cassidy alongside another former CDC official, Debra Houry, who served as the CDC’s chief medical officer and deputy director for program and science. Houry was one of several high-level CDC employees who resigned after Monarez’s dismissal.
Monarez was confirmed as CDC director less than two months ago, after President Donald Trump’s first nominee for the position, Dave Weldon, drew scrutiny from senators for his anti-vaccine views and was withdrawn from consideration. Monarez’s cachet as a career federal employee led public health experts to believe she would act as a buffer against Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism.
But Monarez said Kennedy’s interference made it impossible for her to do the job — and she believes the consequences of the loss of so many public health officials at the agency could have severe consequences.
“The stakes are not theoretical,” said Monarez. “If vaccine protections are weakened, preventable diseases will return.”
Cassidy’s invitation to Monarez and Houry put him at even greater odds with Kennedy after clashing with him in recent hearings. Cassidy, a physician, has questioned Kennedy’s decisions on vaccines, calling it “unfortunate” that Kennedy ordered HHS to cancel millions of dollars in mRNA vaccine research contracts.
In his opening statement, Cassidy said he called the hearing to promote transparency at the CDC — something he noted Trump and Kennedy have also called for.
But Cassidy’s questioning indicated that he remains skeptical of Kennedy’s leadership. He asked Monarez whether Kennedy offered her any evidence related to the upcoming ACIP recommendations when asking her to commit to approving changes to the childhood vaccine schedule.
Monarez replied that Kennedy alleged the current childhood vaccine schedule did not have any evidence to support its use.
Cassidy said during Wednesday’s hearing he was also inviting Kennedy to return to testify before the HELP committee again at a later date.
During his questioning, Sen. Markwayne Mullin referenced a recording of Kennedy’s meeting with Monarez — which prompted Cassidy to ask HHS to release the recording if it actually exists.
“The release of the recording would be radical transparency,” said Cassidy. He noted that it was unusual for only one senator to have access to such a recording, and questioned why Kennedy didn’t share it with the Senate Finance Committee during his hearing with them earlier this month if it exists.
A few minutes later, Cassidy said that it was reported that Mullin told reporters that he was “mistaken” about the existence of such a recording.
“In case he was mistaken that he was mistaken, if there is a recording, it should be released,” Cassidy said.
A spokesperson for Mullin told NOTUS the senator was “referring to a transcript of the meeting.”
Other Republican senators directed their criticism toward Monarez, rather than Kennedy. Sen. Jim Banks and Sen. Ashley Moody both questioned Monarez’s choice of Mark Zaid as her lawyer after her termination. Banks asked Monarez if she was aware of Zaid’s “anti-Trump” views when she hired him. (Trump revoked the security clearance for Zaid, a prominent whistleblower attorney, in March; Zaid sued over the decision.)
Monarez responded that she and Zaid never discussed politics, which Banks called “astonishing.”
Moody asked Monarez to identify her attorneys by name, which Monarez refused to do, saying her attorneys’ names have already been “publicly associated” with her. Houry eventually answered Moody’s line of questioning, saying Monarez’s attorneys were Zaid and Abbe Lowell, who is representing multiple Trump targets.
“Now I’m wondering what else we’re trying to hide,” Moody responded.
Sen. Rand Paul railed against the childhood vaccine schedule in his questioning — and got shoutouts from Kennedy and the Department of Health and Human Services on X as a result.
“Thank you, @SenRandPaul,” Kennedy wrote.
This story has been updated with additional comments.