There was some brief confusion on Wednesday afternoon about whether Susan Monarez, the newly installed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was still in charge at the CDC. It might’ve seemed like a relatively straightforward question, but the answer wasn’t altogether clear.
The Department of Health and Human Services, for example, said in an official statement that Monarez was “no longer director.” Monarez’s attorney, however, said that the CDC chief hadn’t been fired and would not resign.
Then, later Wednesday evening, NBC News reported:
The White House fired back shortly afterward, formally terminating Monarez. ‘As her attorney’s statement makes abundantly clear, Susan Monarez is not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again. Since Susan Monarez refused to resign despite informing HHS leadership of her intent to do so, the White House has terminated Monarez from her position with the CDC,’ White House spokesman Kush Desai said.
The statement in question from Monarez’s attorneys noted that she’d been “targeted” after she “refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts … protecting the public over serving a political agenda.”
That, according to the White House, meant that Monarez, who’d been sworn in the CDC director just four weeks earlier, was no longer “aligned” with Donald Trump’s agenda.
The developments, however, were just the beginning, not the end, of a dramatic shake-up at an agency that used to be celebrated as the global leader in its field. In fact, as NBC News’ report added, Monarez’s ouster “sparked a near-immediate leadership exodus from the CDC.” The resignations that followed Monarez’s firing included:
- Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC’s chief medical officer
- Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases
- Dr. Daniel Jernigan, the director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases
- Dr. Jen Layden, director of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance and Technology
Daskalakis, in particular, released an unrestrained resignation letter, which read in part, “I have never experienced such radical non-transparency, nor have I seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end rather than the good of the American people.”
He added, “My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud.”
As for why the public should care, Dr. Mandy Cohen, a former CDC director, summarized the consequences of the avoidable chaos at the agency: “The weakening of the CDC leaves us less safe and more vulnerable as a country.”
Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, meanwhile, directed her attention toward the one official who appears to be chiefly responsible for the crisis in the public health community: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“Director Monarez is not the problem, RFK Jr. is,” Murray said. “If there are any adults left in the White House, it’s well past time they face reality and fire RFK Jr. He is a dangerous man who is determined to abuse his authority to act on truly terrifying conspiracy theories and disinformation — leaving us unprepared for the next deadly pandemic and snuffing out potential cures while he’s at it.” The senator concluded, “We cannot let RFK Jr. burn what’s left of the CDC and our other critical health agencies to the ground — he must be fired. I hope my Republican colleagues who have come to regret their vote to confirm RFK Jr. will join me in calling for his immediate termination from office.” Murray’s point about GOP senators was of particular interest, because, as dangerous as the developments at the CDC are, they’re not exactly surprising. When Trump nominated an unqualified, anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist with ridiculous beliefs about science to serve as the nation’s top health official, reality-based observers warned that he’d destabilize the nation’s public health infrastructure and make Americans less safe. Fifty-two Senate Republicans refused to listen. And then Kennedy destabilized the nation’s public health infrastructure and made Americans less safe.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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