Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped a bombshell Thursday during his testimony before the Senate Finance Committee after telling lawmakers what he claimed was the real reason he fired the top official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last week, RFK Jr. fired CDC Director Susan Monarez, a Trump appointee. Monarez claimed the firing stemmed from a dispute on vaccine policy, as well as her being asked to do something “illegal,” according to former CDC Director Richard Besser.
When pressed on her firing Thursday by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), however, RFK Jr. gave a different explanation as to the reason for her firing.
“Did you tell the head of the CDC that if she refused to sign off on your changes to the childhood vaccine schedule that she had to resign?” Warren asked.
“No, I told her she had to resign because I asked her 'are you a trustworthy person,' and she said 'no,’” RFK Jr. said. “If you had an employee who told you they weren't trustworthy, would you ask them to resign, senator?”
Warren was visibly taken aback, and pressed RFK Jr. on his response.
“I'm sorry, but this is not what she has said publicly,” she said. “So you're saying she's lying?”
“Yes,” RFK Jr. said bluntly.
Warren froze for a moment, mouth agape in apparent shock, before ramping up the pressure again.
“Let me get this straight,” Warren said. “This is the same person that less than a month earlier, you stood next to her and described her as 'unimpeachable,' [that] you had full confidence in her, and that you had full confidence in her scientific credentials. And in a month, she became a liar?”
RFK Jr. stood by his explanation, and did so during repeated questions on his explanation for firing Monarez from Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT).
Monarez has rejected her removal, and pledged to remain as CDC director, arguing that only President Donald Trump has the authority to fire her. Monarez’s firing has sparked a wave of outrage, and ignited a revolt at the HHS that saw hundreds stage a walkout, and more than 1,000 call for RFK Jr.’s resignation or removal.
