Ousted CDC Director Dithers On Key Questions About Firing During Senate Hearing

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez testified in a Senate hearing Wednesday about her heated dispute with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but the hearing left more questions than answers.

Monarez did not directly respond to questions about her position on COVID-19 booster shots for children, when she established a relationship with Democrat attorneys and what precisely happened behind closed doors during her final meeting with her boss.

Monarez elaborated on her high-profile break with Kennedy in August over the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), an influential group of outside scientific experts who help shape vaccine policy for pediatricians. Monarez testified before the Senate Health, Education and Pensions Committee, where a bipartisan group of senators expressed concerns about an ACIP meeting scheduled for Thursday but offered few specifics about why its new members or specific changes may be a concern.

Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who appeared to side with Monarez in the row by publicly advising physicians to disregard the ACIP’s recommendations under Kennedy, chairs the committee.

“It may be impossible to learn who is telling the truth, but this hearing is an initial step in trying to answer why the top leadership of the CDC was fired or resigned before they could be fired,” Cassidy said. “Turmoil at the top of the nation’s top public health agency is not good for the health of the American people.”

Monarez described a series of events that preceded her firing.

According to Monarez’s account, she heard in early August that the ACIP might change the childhood vaccination schedule without supporting data. On Aug. 19, Monarez received a directive that her decisions would move through political staff in Kennedy’s office. Two days later, she received instructions to come to Washington, D.C.

On Aug. 25, Kennedy summoned Monarez to a series of three meetings. Kennedy said in an “animated” way that he had heard Monarez did not intend to follow the recommendations of the ACIP, Monarez said. He asked her to pre-commit to its recommendations and fire certain CDC officials.

Kennedy restaffed the ACIP with new scientists in order to address concerns about panelists with ties to the pharmaceutical industry — a concern that stretches back to a congressional investigation into the matter in 2000.

The Food and Drug Administration recently released a new framework that requires clinical trials proving a benefit to annual COVID boosters for healthy children and nonelderly adults.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville questioned Monarez about Kennedy’s description of her as “untrustworthy” and asked whether she had defied her bosses, Kennedy and President Donald Trump.

“He told me he could not trust me because I had shared information beyond his staff. I said if you don’t trust me you can fire me,” she said.

Monarez said she and Kennedy butted heads on the scientific evidence base for certain vaccines but did not offer specifics.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma said that the meeting did not transpire the way she said.

“That isn’t how that conversation went. And you know that, don’t you?” Mullin said, who added it was a recorded meeting.

Mullin also pressed Monarez about removing the access of political appointees at the CDC hired before she was brought on. Monarez said she needed to make space for her staff.

Monarez also dithered on when she began speaking to attorneys about her employment.

Monarez’s attorneys, Mark S. Zaid and Abbe David Lowell, have frequently represented opponents of President Donald Trump.

Pressed by Sen. Ashley Moody of Florida, Monarez repeatedly refused to identify them for the record.

.@SenatorBanks asks Susan Monarez why she hired Mark Zaid — a lawyer “heavily involved with President Trump’s first impeachment.”

Monarez: “You know…I…um…look…” pic.twitter.com/EjOmXU6MxG

— HHS.gov (@HHSGov) September 17, 2025

Zaid has previously represented the intelligence official whose whistleblower complaint was central to Trump’s 2019 impeachment inquiry. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard revoked his security clearance in March. Lowell also represents New York Attorney General Letitia James and has previously represented Hunter Biden and former Trump administration staffer Miles Taylor.

Monarez claimed to not know Zaid was political.

“Mark Zaid and I have never talked about politics,” she said.

“That’s astonishing,” Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana replied.

Sen. Marshall lays into fired CDC Director Susan Monarez: “You ARE the problem.” pic.twitter.com/dny8GeG6y6

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 17, 2025

Kennedy has since appointed new members to the ACIP. Senators described some of these scientists as “vaccine skeptics.” However the hearing was short on details about the sources of concern about their biographies or prior statements, both from the senators and the former CDC officials. Monarez said only that the medical community had expressed concerns about their resumes.

The hearing also offered few details on what drove Monarez’s concerns about changes to the childhood vaccination schedule or what those changes may be. Monarez did say Kennedy instructed her to meet with Aaron Siri, a Kennedy ally and an attorney who has sued vaccine manufacturers.

The hearing represents the latest attempt by Cassidy to rein in Kennedy’s review of vaccines. In casting the deciding vote to confirm Kennedy in February, Cassidy sought a litany of concessions, including a promise not to change the ACIP. Kennedy apparently flouted that promise in April when he fired all 17 members.

Kennedy and Cassidy have in particular publicly battled over whether newborns should receive the Hepatitis B vaccine. Hepatitis B, a sexually transmitted virus, most commonly afflicts people aged 30 to 49.

Monarez is the first CDC director requiring confirmation by Cassidy’s committee after recent legislation went into effect. Previous CDC directors were appointed by the HHS secretary without Senate input.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky pressed Monarez on whether CDC should change the childhood vaccination schedule regarding vaccination for Hepatitis B.

.@SenRandPaul questions Susan Monarez on the efficacy of childhood COVID vaccines — and he brings the receipts: pic.twitter.com/wi5iFqnwyV

— HHS.gov (@HHSGov) September 17, 2025

“What is the medical reason for giving a newborn a Hep B vaccine if the mother has no hepatitis?” Paul asked.

Monarez did not answer that question.

Paul also pressed Monarez on whether children should begin receiving COVID-19 vaccines at six months.

“We have to have a discussion about the actual science, we can’t do that with ‘all vaccines are good’ or ‘all vaccines are bad.’ This is about specific vaccines. This is about specific age groups. This is about specific policies,” he said. “You wouldn’t fire the people who are saying we have to vaccinate our children [for COVID] at six months of age.”

Monarez insisted she was open-minded but “would not pre-commit to approving the recommendations of the ACIP without the science.”

“Untrue,” Paul replied.

Both Monarez and former CDC Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry said that Kennedy exerted unusual control over the ACIP by delegating decisions that would normally be handled by career officials and political appointees within HHS.

Houry said that Kennedy’s direct reports at HHS had also helped determine the agenda of the Thursday meeting of the ACIP. She noted that CDC would typically make the voting questions and data publicly available prior to the meeting, but CDC has not shared it yet.

Houry said that she found out about a change to CDC guidance to no longer recommend the COVID vaccine to pregnant women on social media and stressed they had not seen evidence associated with the change. The FDA did not study the COVID vaccine in pregnant women in clinical trials.