Fired CDC chief will testify Kennedy pressed her to endorse vaccine
recommendations without evidence
[September 17, 2025]
By AMANDA SEITZ
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fired Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
director Susan Monarez will tell senators that Health Secretary Robert
F. Kennedy Jr. pressured her to endorse new vaccine recommendations
before seeing scientific evidence, according to a copy of the testimony
she plans to give during a Wednesday hearing.
According to a copy of the prepared remarks, obtained Tuesday by The
Associated Press, Monarez will tell senators that Kennedy gave her an
ultimatum: “Preapprove” new vaccine recommendations from a controversial
advisory CDC panel that Kennedy has stocked with some medical experts
who doubt vaccine safety or be fired. That panel is expected to vote on
new vaccine recommendations later this week.
Monarez, initially handpicked by Kennedy and nominated by President
Donald Trump, was fired just weeks into the job over disagreements on
vaccine policies. She is set to appear before the Senate's powerful
health committee to discuss her firing.
“Even under pressure, I could not replace evidence with ideology or
compromise my integrity,” Monarez will say in her opening testimony to
senators. “Vaccine policy must be guided by credible data, not
predetermined outcomes.”
She said she was “fired for holding the line on scientific integrity.”
Monarez also notes that Kennedy directed her to fire a number of
high-ranking CDC officials without cause.
The Senate hearing will focus on the impact the turmoil at the nation's
leading public health agency, which is responsible for making vaccine
recommendations to the public, will have on children's health. It will
also undoubtedly serve as an opportunity for Monarez and former Chief
Medical Officer Debra Houry, who will also testify before the committee,
to respond to a number of Kennedy's contentious claims about their final
days at the agency.
Kennedy has denied Monarez' accusations that he ordered “rubber-stamped”
vaccine recommendations.
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|
 He has described Monarez as
admitting to him that she is “untrustworthy,” a claim Monarez has
denied through her attorney. He did, however, acknowledge during a
testy Senate hearing earlier this month that he ordered Monarez to
fire several top officials at the CDC.
The Senate hearing is taking place just a day before the vaccine
panel starts its two-day session in Atlanta to discuss shots against
COVID-19, hepatitis B and chickenpox. It's unclear how the panel
might vote on the recommendations, though members have raised doubts
about whether hepatitis B shots administered to newborns are
necessary and have suggested that COVID-19 recommendations should be
more restricted.
The CDC director must endorse those recommendations before they
become official. Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Jim
O’Neill, now serving as the CDC's acting director, will be
responsible for that.
Monarez and Houry are expected to face tense questions from
Republicans over the CDC's vaccine recommendations and COVID-19
policies. Democrats, meanwhile, are likely to seek more information
on Kennedy's approach to vaccines.
The health committee's hearing will be overseen by Republican Sen.
Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a physician who cast a key vote for
Kennedy's confirmation. He has expressed concern about “serious
allegations” at the CDC and has called for oversight, without
blaming Kennedy.
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Associated Press writers Mike Stobbe in New York and Lauran
Neergaard in Washington contributed.
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