Many pivotal pieces of news slipped under the radar in this bright and shiny objects news cycle. Between unfolding information about Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer, President Donald Trump’s state visit to the United Kingdom, and Jimmy Kimmel getting a huge serving of FAFO, the “urgent” testimony of former CDC director Susan Monarez before the Senate HELP Committee was one of them.
At the insistence of Senate HELP Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-VT) the fired ex-director and her cohort Dr. Debra Houry, who resigned in solidarity with Monarez, appeared before the Senate for almost three hours of questioning. This was supposed to be a moment of truth and discovery about why Monarez, after being fully confirmed as CDC Director on a party-line vote, was forcibly removed from the position 29 days later.
Read More: Report: CDC Director Out After 1 Month on the Job, Along With Several Other Resignations
The Senate Is Out for Robert Kennedy Over Monarez Firing, CDC Resignations
That question was not fully answered. What was answered is why Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and President Trump did fire her. Monarez came off as duplicitous, self-righteous, and just as untrustworthy as Kennedy painted her in his testimony before the Senate Finance Committee earlier in September.
Dive Deeper: Trump Drops Ultimatum to Big Pharma on COVID Vaccine Amid CDC Drama
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Testifies to Senate Finance Committee: ‘Change Has Its Enemies’
Some of Monarez’s thunder was blunted by the fact that Charlie Kirk, a conservative icon and friend to many in the MAHA movement, was assassinated last week. So, Monarez’s righteous belief that she was saving public health paled in comparison to a man who actually lost his life because of his righteous beliefs. Any remaining juice eked away at the hearing, when it was revealed that Monarez is indeed a self-serving, aggrandizer with delusions of her own self-importance.
Monarez said in her opening statement:
My tenure as CDC Director lasted 29 days. Since my removal, several explanations have been offered: that I told the Secretary I would resign, that I was not aligned with administration priorities, or that I was untrustworthy. None of those reflect what actually happened. I will share the details, but I want to be clear: today should not be about me. Today should be about the future of trust in public health.
When you show up to your testimony flanked by your high-priced attorneys who whisper in your ear and hand you notes and talking points, there is no choice but for it to become about you. But Monarez knew that. This became evident when Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) called her out on this.
WATCH:
At today’s Senate Health Committee hearing I asked fired CDC Director Susan Monarez about choosing a well known Trump hating lawyer to represent her.
Her response: “uh….” pic.twitter.com/vCvakGkXoI
— Senator Jim Banks (@SenatorBanks) September 17, 2025
August 27 was when HHS made the announcement that Monarez had been fired. So, it is fascinating that the Washington Post had a statement from attorneys Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell within hours of her dismissal, claiming she was the victim.
Hours after the Department of Health and Human Services announced Monarez was no longer the director, her lawyers responded with a fiery statement saying she has not resigned or been fired. They accused HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of “weaponizing public health for political gain” and “putting millions of American lives at risk” by purging health officials from government.
“When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts, she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda,” the lawyers Mark S. Zaid and Abbe Lowell wrote in a statement. “For that reason, she has been targeted.”
Even more fascinating is that Monarez refused to identify her attorneys for the hearing record, further making it about her. After pointed questioning by Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL), Dr. Deb Houry finally went on record naming the attorneys representing them.
WATCH:
Former CDC Director Monarez showed up to today’s @GOPHelp hearing with anti-Trump attorneys that proceeded to pass her notes and whisper in her ear as she testified. I asked her to name them for the record, she refused. 🧐 pic.twitter.com/H8oz1Ea8iI
— Senator Ashley Moody (@SenAshleyMoody) September 17, 2025
As a contrast to the Republican lawmakers, the Democrat senators on the committee, and the usual Republican suspects (looking at you, Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)), shifted from acting like performative clapping seals for Monarez’s (and Dr. Deb Houry’s) “bravery and integrity” or clutching pearls over the upset at the CDC, worried about what will happen when the next medical emergency occurs — as though the CDC did such a bang up job with the last so-called emergency: the COVID pandemic.
Monarez, who was a longtime federal government scientist before President Donald Trump nominated her to lead the CDC, declined to commit to support changing coronavirus vaccine policy without consulting her advisers, two people said. That prompted Kennedy to urge her to resign for “not supporting President Trump’s agenda,” one of the people said.
Monarez claimed that she could not in good conscience approve changes to the childhood vaccine schedule without “The Science™.” This might have been believable if Monarez actually understood what the vaccine schedule entailed and the concerns that Kennedy was seeking to address in reviewing it. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) exposed Monarez’s ignorance on this, as only he could.
WATCH:
There is NO science for giving newborns HepB when the mother is negative.
pic.twitter.com/QIXbtNz3oG— Dr. Kat Lindley (@KLVeritas) September 18, 2025
Another Senate medical doctor, Roger Marshall (R-KS), further nailed Monarez to the wall when she claimed she feared that what Kennedy was doing created more “vaccine hesitancy” when the CDC’s vaunted scientific integrity on vaccines was put into question.
WATCH:
“You are the problem.”
Senator Doctor @RogerMarshallMD to ex-CDC director Susan Monarez.
“…moms and grandmas will never trust you because you’re trying to force a vaccine that isn’t necessary.” pic.twitter.com/wL08DE3l7h
— The HighWire (@HighWireTalk) September 17, 2025
But it was Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) who put the fine point on the fraudulence of Monarez’s draping herself in The Science ™ and the integrity of the CDC, when the agency lost any credibility or relevance after they sold out children and families during the COVID pandemic.
“Everybody kept saying it’s based on the science, and yet we know that now that that guidance was based on politics and special interests,” said Husted. “Instead of safeguarding children’s health, CDC allowed activism to override science with devastating consequences.”
Husted detailed the damage and duplicity, and it was devastating.
WATCH:
It is clear Monarez is talking out the side of her neck. The vaccine reviews by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) are about those conversations, but Monarez was opposed to them and actively worked to grind them to a halt. Monarez even made a claim that the political appointees and vaccine skeptics whom HHS Kennedy had placed on this committee were the problem. The ACIP committee director, Dr. Martin Kulldorff, said he had never even spoken with Monarez.
Another twist in the bizarre story of former CDC Director Susan Monarez’s brief tenure.
The source of her disagreement with RFK Jr. was the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee (ACIP). But committee director Martin Kulldorff now says Monarez never spoke with him. pic.twitter.com/72J30SF9bi
— Emily Kopp (@emilyakopp) September 18, 2025
If Monarez and Houry’s goal was to thwart this ACIP discussion, it failed. This committee met on Thursday, discussing recommendations on Hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccines. The committee voted not to recommend the combined MMRV vaccines before the age of four, but “children in that age group can receive separate doses of the MMR and varicella vaccines.” The committee will meet again on Friday to discuss and vote on COVID-19 vaccines for infants.
In the meantime, HHS Secretary Kennedy is further denying science and following his crackpot theories /sarc by mounting a Long COVID Consortium. For someone whom Monarez claims is “putting Americans’ health at risk,” Kennedy is doing a lot to safeguard and restore Americans’ health.
.@SecKennedy opens the Long COVID Consortium at HHS, stating he convened today’s roundtables for people who “don’t know where to go, and feel their voices aren’t being listened to.” pic.twitter.com/mqsD6aJH8P
— HHS.gov (@HHSGov) September 18, 2025
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