The public health sector has been thrown into chaos as leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) leave the agency amid heightened political tensions with the Trump administration. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that Susan Monarez would no longer serve as CDC director, followed by the resignations of four top leaders at the agency: Demetre C. Daskalakis, Daniel Jernigan, Debbie Houry, and Jennifer Layden. The shakeup has left the agency “weakened, gutted, and utterly dispirited,” according to law professor Lawrence Gostin.
For Democrats on Capitol Hill, the chaos is enough to call for HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s termination. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that keeping Kennedy in the position would “make many more people sick and cause more deaths.” Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) said, “President Trump must fire Robert F. Kennedy Jr. before he further endangers millions of American children, mothers, and families.” If Trump does not remove Kennedy before he fully unleashes his crackpot conspiracy theories on America’s vaccination efforts, he will bear the responsibility for the unnecessary and preventable illnesses and deaths that result.
