CDC Director Claims RFK Jr. Told Her to Rubber-Stamp His Vaccine Picks

Dr. Susan Monarez, the former head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, said she was fired amid pressure from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to approve his vaccine board picks, saying she refused to “compromise my integrity.” 

“On August 19th, I received a directive from the secretary’s office that I now required prior approval from my political staff for CDC policy and personnel decisions,” Monarez, who was appointed to the position by President Donald Trump, told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Sept. 17.

She said the directive made her “concerned about my ability to continue to lead the CDC while preserving evidence-based decision making, commitments I had made to this committee during my confirmation hearing.”

Monarez described what had occurred two days before she was publicly ousted from her position. “On the morning of August 25th, Secretary Kennedy demanded two things of me that were inconsistent with my oath of office, and the ethics required of a public official.” 

First, she said Kennedy “directed me to commit in advance to approving every ACIP [Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices] recommendation, regardless of the scientific method.”

Monarez said Kennedy “also directed me to dismiss career officials responsible for vaccine policy without cause. He said if I was unwilling to do both, I should resign.”

“I responded that I could not pre-approve recommendations without reviewing the evidence. And I had no basis to fire scientific experts. He told me he had already spoken with the White House several times about having me removed.”

The ACIP reviews scientific evidence and makes recommendations to the government about vaccine schedules. In June, RFK Jr. announced that the HHS was dismissing all 17 members of the committee and replacing them.

“Now, the reputation of that body is being seriously questioned,” Dr. William Schaffner, professor of infectious disease and preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, previously told PEOPLE. The majority of the new appointees “are well-recognized vaccine skeptics and you would even characterize some of them as being anti-vaccine.”

One new committee member, Dr. Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist, appeared on a panel with Marjorie Taylor Greene about COVID-19 vaccine injuries, per CNN, which reports that another member, epidemiologist Dr. Catherine Stein, co-authored a paper for a group affiliated with Kennedy’s own anti-vaccine group.

In a Senate hearing on Sept. 4, per NPR, Kennedy said, “I told her she had to resign because I asked her, ‘Are you a trustworthy person?’ And she said, ‘No.’ “

But while speaking to the Senate committee, Monarez said, “For three decades, I have worked at the intersection of public health, science and technology innovation. Always challenging the status quo and welcoming the changes that come from research and discovery.”

However, she said, “Even under pressure. I could not replace evidence with ideology or compromise my integrity.”

The next ACIP meeting, scheduled for Sept. 18, is set to review vaccines against COVID-19, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella and varicella, and respiratory syncytial virus, per CNN.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.