Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is pressuring Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign following the recent tumult at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Sanders, a ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, agrees with President Trump and Kennedy on making the public “healthy again,” but warns that they have done exactly the opposite since coming into office.
Sanders’ call for Kennedy to resign comes as the CDC’s director, Susan Monarez, was fired, leading to four other top officials resigning later that day, accusing the administration of weaponizing public health. Kennedy and the White House have defended the firing of Monarez, stating that the president has the authority to fire those who are not aligned with his mission.
The firing of Monarez and the resignations of officials rocked the public health community and drew mixed reactions on Capitol Hill. Sanders called for a bipartisan investigation into the ouster of Monarez, hammering the administration for making a “reckless” and “dangerous” decision. He criticized Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism and claimed that the former presidential candidate will target the childhood immunization schedule, putting Americans’ lives in danger.
Sanders argued that the U.S. needs to be better prepared if another pandemic, such as COVID-19, breaks out, and that Kennedy’s leadership is making the situation even worse. He urged President Trump to listen to doctors and scientists and nominate a health secretary and a C.D.C. director who will protect the health and well-being of the American people, not carry out dangerous policies based on conspiracy theories. The Trump administration selected Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill to be the acting director of the CDC on Thursday.
