US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jnr said on Thursday that firing a top government scientist was “absolutely necessary”, as he faced blistering criticism from Democrats urging him to resign over his steps to curb vaccines.
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The Senate hearing, marked by sharp exchanges that often erupted into shouting matches, came days after the ousting of Sue Monarez, the former director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Her dismissal, accompanied by several high-level resignations and hundreds of earlier lay-offs, has plunged the nation’s premier public health agency into turmoil.
In his opening remarks, Kennedy tore into the CDC’s actions during the Covid pandemic, accusing the agency of failing “miserably” with “disastrous and nonsensical” policies including masking guidance, social distancing and school closures.
“We need bold, competent and creative new leadership at CDC, people able and willing to chart a new course,” he said.
Monarez, the CDC director whom Kennedy previously endorsed, accused the secretary of a “deliberate effort to weaken America’s public health system and vaccine protections” in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Thursday.