By Gabe Whisnant

Copyright newsweek

America’s public health system is headed to a “very dangerous place” under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his team of anti-vaccine advisers, former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez told senators Wednesday.Monarez and former CDC Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry described turmoil inside federal health agencies, saying Kennedy and his political advisers dismissed data showing vaccines are safe and effective.Monarez, who was fired after 29 days in the job following disputes with Kennedy, warned that once-contained diseases such as polio and whooping cough could return in the United States.”I believe preventable diseases will return, and I believe we will have our children harmed by things they don’t need to be harmed by,” she said.When is the advisory committee meeting?The hearing came a day before a federal vaccine panel was set to begin a two-day meeting in Atlanta to weigh recommendations on shots for COVID-19, hepatitis B and chickenpox. Kennedy has included several vaccine skeptics in the panel.Before this week’s panel meeting, Houry said she proposed presenting data on the hepatitis B vaccine given to newborns to prevent transmission of the disease from mother to child. She said a Kennedy adviser rejected the information as biased because it could support keeping the shots on the schedule.”You’re suggesting that they wanted to move away from the birth dose, but they were afraid that your data would say that they should retain it?” Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, who chairs the powerful health committee, asked.Which mandated vaccines could be eliminated?Members have questioned whether newborn hepatitis B shots are necessary and suggested narrowing COVID-19 guidelines.The CDC director must endorse the panel’s decisions before they become official. Acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill will make that call.”I’m very nervous about it,” Monarez said of the meeting.When was Dr. Susan Monarez fired from the CDC?Monarez testified she was ousted on August 27 after refusing to approve vaccine recommendations without scientific backing and for declining to dismiss senior CDC officials without cause.Kennedy has denied ordering “rubber-stamped” vaccine approvals but acknowledged demanding personnel changes. He claimed Monarez admitted she was “untrustworthy,” an allegation she rejected through her attorney.Monarez said Kennedy told her, “he spoke to the president every day about changing the childhood vaccination schedule.”Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, said Monarez “stood up for protecting the well-being of the American people, and for that reason she was fired.”While most Senate Republicans have avoided direct criticism of Kennedy, some expressed concern over reduced access to COVID-19 vaccines and the scaling back of childhood immunizations. Others echoed Kennedy’s skepticism of federal health agencies.Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas physician, pressed Monarez on her “philosophy” on vaccines, while Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville argued her job was to show loyalty to Kennedy, saying, “America needs better than this.”Cassidy pressed the witnesses as they described their exchanges with Kennedy and his advisers.”To be clear, he said there was not science or data, but he still expected you to change the schedule?” Cassidy asked.Why did Former CDC Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry Resign?Houry resigned on Aug. 27, 2025, hours after the White House dismissed Monarez.She cited growing political interference in the agency’s scientific work—especially around vaccine policy—and concerns that decisions were being made before adequate data or evidence was available. In her resignation, Houry warned that without Monarez, the CDC lacked scientific leadership and transparency.Update: 9/17/25, 1:08 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.Update: 9/17/25, 1:37 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.