Senate committee advances Susan Monarez to be Trump's CDC director
[July 10, 2025]
By MIKE STOBBE and JONEL ALECCIA
The U.S. Senate's health committee on Wednesday approved Susan Monarez
to be President Donald Trump’s director of the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, taking her one step closer to confirmation.
The committee voted 12-11 for advancing her nomination to the full
Senate. The vote went along party lines, with Democrats in opposition.
Monarez, 50, is poised to become the first CDC director to pass through
Senate confirmation following a 2023 law. She was named acting director
in January and then tapped as the nominee in March after Trump abruptly
withdrew his first choice, David Weldon.
She holds a doctorate in microbiology and immunology from the University
of Wisconsin, and a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University.
Prior to the CDC, Monarez was largely known for her government roles in
health technology and biosecurity.
The committee's action comes after months of turmoil with no leader at
the helm of the Atlanta-based federal agency tasked with tracking
diseases and responding to health threats.
The CDC has been hit by widespread staff cuts, resignations of key
officials and heated controversy over longstanding CDC vaccine policies
upended by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
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 Last month, Monarez told senators
that she values vaccines, public health interventions and rigorous
scientific evidence, but she largely dodged questions about whether
those positions put her at odds with Kennedy, a longtime vaccine
skeptic who has criticized and sought to dismantle some of the
agency’s previous protocols and decisions.
“Unfortunately, Dr. Monarez — who has served as Trump's acting CDC
director — has done nothing to stand in the way" of Kennedy's
actions, Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, said
Wednesday.
The CDC was created nearly 80 years ago to prevent the spread of
malaria in the U.S. Its mission was later expanded, and it gradually
became a global leader on infectious and chronic diseases and a
go-to source of health information.
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