In a fiery trade with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, Kennedy claimed the not too long ago fired CDC Director Susan Monarez mentioned she was not reliable.
Warren pointed to an op-ed Monarez wrote for The Wall Road Journal on Thursday saying she would not prematurely log off on suggestions from the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee.
“I instructed her that she needed to resign as a result of I requested her, ‘Are you a reliable particular person?’ And she or he mentioned, ‘No,'” Kennedy replied. “When you had an worker who instructed you they weren’t reliable, would you ask them to resign, senator?”
Susan Monarez, nominee to be director of the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, testifies earlier than a Senate Well being, Training, Labor, and Pensions Committee affirmation listening to on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 25, 2025.
Kevin Mohatt/Reuters
Kennedy reiterated the assertion when requested by Sen. Bernie Sanders, an unbiased from Vermont, in regards to the trade with Monarez.
“Are you telling us that the previous head of CDC, you requested her, ‘Are you a reliable particular person?’ And she or he mentioned, ‘No, I’m not a reliable particular person,'” Sanders requested.
‘”She did not say, ‘No, I am not a reliable particular person.’ She mentioned, ‘No,'” Kennedy replied.
