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GOP Senator ‘Extremely Alarmed’ Over Firing Of CDC Director

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Susan Collins
Photo Credit: "Susan Collins" by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/?ref=openverse.

Washington was thrown into turmoil after the abrupt firing of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Susan Monarez, who was removed from her position under orders from the Trump administration.

The move triggered immediate fallout inside the agency and sparked outrage on Capitol Hill, with several lawmakers from both parties demanding oversight into the matter.

Monarez, who had been asked earlier to step down, initially refused to resign and continued in her role until the White House formally informed her of her termination.

Her ouster rattled the agency, as four senior CDC officials quit in solidarity shortly after.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) voiced her concern about Monarez’s firing during remarks to reporters after meeting with the Maine Sheriffs Association.

“I am extremely alarmed at the firing of the CDC director,” Collins said, describing Monarez as a capable and experienced scientist who had been in the job for just three weeks.

Collins said she personally knew Monarez and had spoken with her multiple times, adding, “I see no basis for her firing.”

Collins’s remarks came as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called for a bipartisan investigation into the incident.

Meanwhile, the chairs of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), also plan to look into the controversial decision.

Cassidy issued a statement demanding that the department’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) delay its Sept. 18 meeting, arguing that allegations tied to the agenda and process raised serious concerns.

“Serious allegations have been made about the meeting agenda, membership, and lack of scientific process being followed,” Cassidy said, warning that any recommendations made under current conditions would “directly impact children’s health.”

He added that the meeting should not take place until proper oversight is carried out.

“If the meeting proceeds, any recommendations should be rejected as lacking legitimacy given the seriousness of the allegations and the current turmoil in the CDC leadership,” Cassidy declared.

Collins echoed that view, telling reporters she had spoken directly with Monarez about the firing and that she agreed with Cassidy’s call for congressional oversight.

Sanders condemned Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, for removing Monarez “after only a few weeks on the job.”

Sanders insisted the HELP Committee should hold hearings with Kennedy and the new CDC leadership immediately, adding pointedly, “Vaccines save lives. Period.”

The fallout continued as former Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, who served under the Biden administration, warned that the resignations would weaken the nation’s defense against infectious disease.

In a social media statement, Becerra said, “They were essential public health leaders who helped our country get out of the pandemic. Politicians don’t do science well. It is dangerous to put politics over public health. People will die.”

Monarez’s legal team, attorneys Abbe Lowell and Mark Zaid, released a statement blasting the firing.

They accused the administration of targeting her for refusing to endorse “unscientific, reckless directives” and for refusing to purge veteran health officials.

“She chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda,” the statement read, describing Monarez as “a person of integrity and devoted to science.”

Despite the wave of criticism, Kennedy Jr., a long-time skeptic of vaccines, defended the firings and hinted at more changes ahead.

“It’s going to require getting rid of some people over the long term in order for us to change the institutional culture,” he told Spectrum News.

The administration has already named Jim O’Neill, Deputy Secretary of HHS, as acting director of the CDC.

O’Neill, a former CEO of the Thiel Foundation and a Silicon Valley investor, previously worked in the George W. Bush administration at HHS.

He was sworn in as deputy secretary just months ago and is expected to serve as a placeholder until a permanent replacement is announced.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the president’s decision, stressing that Trump “was overwhelmingly reelected on Nov. 5” while Monarez “has never received a vote in her life.”

Leavitt argued that the president “has the authority to fire those who are not aligned with his mission.”

She added that Kennedy would announce Monarez’s permanent successor soon.

Kennedy told “Fox & Friends” that the house-cleaning at the CDC was part of a broader mission to realign the agency.

“CDC has problems,” Kennedy said. “We saw the misinformation coming out of COVID, they got the testing wrong, they got the social distancing, the masks, the school closures that have done so much harm to the American people today.”

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Clark Kelley

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