Cantwell: Testimony of Former CDC Director Confirms RFK Jr. Doesn’t Follow The Science

Cantwell: Testimony of Former CDC Director Confirms RFK Jr. Doesn't Follow The Science

Dr. Susan Monarez tells the Senate Health Committee she's concerned RFK Jr. will recommend more vaccine restrictions without rigorous review; A new 6-month investigation by Stanford researchers and NBC indicates that the United States no longer has baseline herd immunity for contagious viruses like measles

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Dr. Susan Monarez, who served as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 29 days before being abruptly fired by Health and Human Services (HHS) Director RFK Jr. due to disagreements over vaccine recommendations, testified before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

In her testimony, Dr. Monarez said RFK Jr. told her that she'd be fired unless she agreed to "preapprove" new vaccination recommendations from a CDC advisory panel, which RFK Jr. had previously swept clean of all prior members and instead filled with new members skeptical of vaccine safety.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement:

"Dr. Monarez confirmed today what we already knew: Secretary Kennedy was trying to 'replace evidence with ideology.' Instead of basing childhood vaccine standards on hundreds of years of scientific evidence, he wants to use pseudoscience. The end result is we are seeing a rise in measles across the U.S. where it once was considered eliminated, and reporting shows some seniors are being denied access to COVID shots when they used to be free. Thank goodness the West Coast Health Alliance today said adults over 65 should receive COVID-19 shots, creating more certainty that hopefully insurers will follow."," Sen. Cantwell said.

Earlier this month, Sen. Cantwell called out RFK Jr. on his efforts to dismantle the American health care system and deny access to lifesaving vaccines: "You're a charlatan, sir. That's what you are," she told him in a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee.

Sen. Cantwell also took him to task in the Sept. 4 Finance Committee hearing for firing all 17 members of the CDC's immunization advisory committee in June. Last month, RFK Jr. additionally cancelled $500 million in federal funding meant for researching mRNA vaccines that counter viruses like COVID-19.

A full transcript of Sen. Cantwell's Q&A with RFK Jr. earlier this month is available HERE, video HERE, and audio HERE.

Last week, Sen. Cantwell filed an amendment to the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would prevent health care providers from denying COVID-19 vaccines unless there's some medical reason that the patient should not have one and require insurers to cover the vaccine in full.

Her amendment was in response to new guidance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines. Under the new recommendations, only people 65 and older or those with at least one underlying health condition that increases their risk of severe infection are recommended for the vaccine. While the new FDA guidelines don't ban others from receiving the vaccine, they do create new hurdles - for instance, whether the vaccine is covered by insurance and available at pharmacies will vary from patient to patient and state to state. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the cost of a COVID-19 vaccine is $142. As a result of the revised FDA guidelines, unlike years past, most Americans will no longer be able to count on receiving a free or low-cost COVID-19 booster from their local pharmacy ahead of the 2025-2026 winter season.