Former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Susan Monarez testifies before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on September 17, 2025 in Washington. (Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez testified before a U.S. Senate committee Wednesday that she was fired after just 29 days because she refused to pre-approve vaccine recommendations or fire officials without cause.
Monarez, nominated by President Donald Trump earlier this year and confirmed by the Senate in July on a party-line vote, became a central figure in the national public health debate last month after she refused to resign.
Monarez testified that during a meeting in overdue August, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told her she must commit to approving the upcoming recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without reviewing any data or research.
“He also ordered me to fire vaccine policy officials without cause. He said that if I didn’t want to do both, I should resign,” Monarez said. “I replied that I could not pre-approve the recommendations without reviewing the evidence and that I had no grounds to fire scientific experts.”
Monarez testified before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee during the trial almost three-hour interrogation that she told Kennedy that if he didn’t trust her, he could fire her.
During the same meeting in overdue August, Monarez said Kennedy told her that the childhood vaccination schedule would change in September and that she had to come to terms with that.
“We engaged in an exchange during which I suggested that I would be open to changing the childhood vaccination schedule if the evidence or science supported it,” Monarez testified. “And he responded that there was no scientific data or evidence related to the childhood vaccination schedule.”
An ACIP meeting is scheduled Thursday and Friday at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.
Kennedy testified before a separate Senate committee earlier this month that he did indeed demand that Monarez fire career CDC scientists, but said he did not tell her to accept the vaccine advisory panel’s recommendations without further analysis.
“I asked her if she had made a statement that she would not sign the contract, and I wanted clarification on that,” Kennedy said at the time. “I told her I didn’t want her in that role unless she signed off on it.”
The issue of vaccine safety
Monarez said questioning the safety of vaccines will lead to an escalate in preventable diseases, some of which will have long-term or even lifelong consequences for children’s health.
“I believe that our children will be harmed by things that we know should not harm them – polio, measles, diphtheria, chickenpox,” she said.
Former CDC medical director Dr. Debra Houry told the committee that the recent members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, who were appointed by Kennedy after he fired all former members, would not apply stringent science and data to make their recommendations.
“It will be heartbreaking,” Houry said. “I think what worries me is that these are not harmless diseases. We just saw a case in California of a young child who died of encephalitis many years after measles. These diseases have long-term consequences, and in the US we have gone so far to reverse them. We don’t want our children to die.”
Houry was one several CDC officials who resigned after learning of Monarez’s firing, which occurred just weeks later the gunman opened fire at CDC headquarters, killing a police officer.
Both Monarez and Houry testified in response to a question from Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy that the confusion over vaccines and CDC recommendations had real consequences.
“I myself have been the subject of threats,” Monarez said. “I am very concerned that the continued spread of misleading information will not only jeopardize the safety and health of our children, but will also exacerbate some of these tensions – the desire to cause harm if anyone is offended by the belief that people like us who are trying to help them are not actually trying to help them.”
Houry told the commission that the gunman fired about 500 rounds, about 180 of which hit the building.
“Each bullet was intended for a specific person, and each of my employees experienced great trauma afterward,” Houry said. “I had staff shielding their children in the parking lot of a day care center. There were people who were in shared transportation as bullets flew over their heads. Many of them now do not want to talk about vaccines and have removed their names from newspapers. They no longer want to appear publicly because they feel they have been personally targeted due to misinformation.”
– Have we done something wrong?
HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., said at the beginning of the hearing that he intended to invite Kennedy and possibly other HHS officials to testify before his committee later in the year if they wanted to respond to what was said during Wednesday’s hearing.
He also expressed concerns that Monarez was fired after less than a month in the role, even though she was a Trump appointee, which was confirmed by the Senate and Kennedy, who swore that she had “unquestionable scientific credentials.”
“We senators have to ask ourselves, have we missed something? Have we done something wrong?” Cassidy said. “We may have done nothing wrong, in which case, Dr. Monarez and Dr. Houry, the onus is on you to prove that the criticism leveled by the Secretary is not true.”
Cassidy later added that “it may be impossible to find out who is telling the truth.”
Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a member of the top committee, said the Trump administration’s decision to fire Monarez after less than a month as CDC director was because she was “unwilling to act as a rubber stamp to implement Secretary Kennedy’s unsafe agenda to significantly restrict the apply of safe and sound and effective vaccines that would endanger the lives of the American people and people around the world.”
Sanders expressed concerns that the loss of officials at the CDC and other federal health agencies could make it more challenging for the country to address disease outbreaks in the coming months and years.
Confusion over whether Monarez was recorded
In addition to a sedate discussion about the Trump administration’s approach to public health, there were several awkward moments during the hearing.
One came after Florida Republican Ashley Moody mentioned twice during her five-minute questions that Monarez had spoken to Cassidy about her firing, suggesting it was somehow inappropriate.
Cassidy then made a long statement explaining the story.
“As chairman of the committee with jurisdiction over the CDC, which favorably nominated Dr. Monarez as CDC director, it is entirely appropriate for anyone with concerns about surveillance to contact my office, me, or frankly, any of us,” Cassidy said. “After receiving the information from Dr. Monarez, I contacted both the Secretary and the White House to ask what was happening and to express my concerns about the allegations. As soon as the Director was fired, the HELP Committee began a review of the situation as it is our responsibility, and all communications with witnesses were conducted by HELP staff in consultation with attorneys.”
Another rather uncomfortable and somewhat confusing moment occurred when Oklahoma Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin told Monarez that someone had recorded her meeting or meetings with Kennedy.
Mullin then repeatedly questioned her recollection of the conversations with Kennedy, suggesting that she had a different opinion because he had listened to the recording.
Following the exchange, Cassidy made another statement to the committee. He seemed somewhat frustrated that someone had given the recording to only one senator on the panel, that Mullin had not shared it with any other committee members and that HHS had chosen not to give it to the committee in response to a request for documents related to Monarez’s firing.
“If the recording does not exist, I am asking Senator Mullin to withdraw his set of questions,” Cassidy said. “I will also note that if he has it, I am also curious why only one senator received it and why we are only now hearing about it.”
Minutes later, Cassidy announced in the hearing room that Mullin had told reporters elsewhere that he was wrong that there was a recording of the meeting or meetings.
Monarez’s lawyer
Several GOP senators on the panel also questioned Monarez at length about when and why she decided to hire legal representation and why she ultimately chose to work with Mark Zaid, who has made public statements against Trump and his policies.
Monarez testified that when she hired him, she was unaware of Zaid’s political beliefs and did not discuss politics with him.
“I was looking for critical advice to help me ensure that I understand and am aware of everything that has occurred and prepare for what may come next, including the committee hearing,” Monarez said. “Mark and I never talked about politics. I never asked him about his politics. He never asked me about my politics.”
