Sen. Bill Cassidy, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has urged oversight of the departures of several high-level officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including Director Susan Monarez. Cassidy, who cast a pivotal vote to confirm Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., supported Kennedy’s controversial nomination after receiving assurances that he would not dismantle the nation’s vaccine safety systems. Monarez and several other senior officials at the CDC are set to leave their posts after a battle with Kennedy over the administration’s vaccine policies. The White House announced Monarez’s termination because she is “not aligned with the president’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again.” Monarez’s lawyers, Mark S. Zaid and Abbe Lowell, said she was targeted for dismissal as part of the systematic dismantling of public health institutions, the silencing of experts, and the dangerous politicization of science. The HHS announced Monarez was no longer the head of the CDC, but her lawyers argued she served at the pleasure of the president and could only be fired by President Trump. Four other senior officials at the agency announced their resignations after Monarez was ousted: Debra Houry, Demetre Daskalakis, Daniel Jernigan, and Jennifer Layden.
GOP Health chair Bill Cassidy has pledged Senate oversight following the CDC shake-up. Mr. PopZit Ear blackhead extractions! 2808
