What to know today
- SENATE HEARING: Susan Monarez, the former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testified in a closely watched hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) weeks after she was fired. The hearing kicked off with statements from Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., who is a physician, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
- CLASHES WITH RFK JR.: Monarez testified about a tense meeting she had with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on vaccines. Monarez told senators that Kennedy tried to pressure her to preapprove vaccine recommendations from a committee that contains anti-vaccine activists. At a Senate hearing this month, Kennedy said she was lying.
- CDC ATTACKS: Monarez told senators that Kennedy became "very upset" when she told him she wouldn't go along with his requests on vaccine approvals and that he attacked the CDC as "corrupt" and claimed employees were responsible for "killing children."
- MORE CDC TURMOIL: Debra Houry, the CDC’s former chief medical officer, is also testifying about her decision to quit her job after Monarez's departure. Houry warned of the long-term consequences of undermining public health.
This event has concluded.
Senate hearing concludes
Cassidy just gaveled out the hearing, ending Monarez and Houry's testimony for the day.
Houry says CDC officials were asked to hand over confidential data to discredited researcher
Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., raised concerns about the CDC under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership twisting data to fit a predetermined conclusion. Houry said she was also concerned that the science coming out of the CDC won’t be “gold standard.”
While she was at the CDC, Houry said, HHS’ deputy policy chief of staff met with her and three other high-ranking CDC officials (all of whom have subsequently resigned) about handing over confidential data to David Geier, a discredited researcher who has repeatedly claimed that vaccines cause autism.
“For two days, she sat with us and asked us to grant access to a data that has privacy and security concerns to this researcher,” Houry said.
Kennedy has said he brought on Geier as a contractor. NBC News previously reported that Geier was tasked with analyzing vaccine safety data.
Cassidy says Mullin has backtracked on the existence of a recording
Cassidy said that Mullin has now informed reporters that he was "mistaken" about the meeting between Monarez and Kennedy being recorded.
"It's just been reported that Sen. Mullin told reporters that he was mistaken in saying that the RFK-Monarez meeting was recorded," Cassidy said.
"But in case he's mistaken that he was mistaken, if there is a recording, it should be released, and it would beg the question of what other conversations were recorded," Cassidy said.
An HHS spokesperson told NBC News of Mullin's comments: "This was incorrectly stated at the hearing. There is no recording."
The spokesperson added that "Susan Monarez was tasked with restoring the CDC to its core mission after decades of bureaucratic inertia, politicized science, and mission creep eroded its purpose and squandered public trust—and she refused to do it, and the President fired her."
Monarez says vaccine schedule is set to change this month
As she was taking questions from Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., Monarez said that Kennedy planned to change the childhood vaccine schedule as soon as this month.
"When you were talking to secretary, he was basically telling you that the child vaccine schedule will change in September. Is that roughly right?" Kim asked.
"That is correct," Monarez answered.
Her comments come just one day before the CDC's vaccine advisory committee is set to meet.
Cassidy underscores importance of vaccines in closing remarks
Speaking as a hepatologist, or liver specialist, Cassidy explained why some infants can be infected with hepatitis B or other sexually transmitted diseases at birth and go on to develop chronic, lifelong infections.
In the decade after the hepatitis B vaccine was approved for newborns, he said, infections among newborns declined by 68%. Today, he said, fewer than 20 babies per year get hepatitis B from their mother.
“That is an accomplishment to make America healthy again, and we should stand up and salute the people that made that decision, because there’s people who would otherwise be dead if those mothers were not given that option to have their child vaccinated,” Cassidy said.
Cassidy calls for Mullin to release the recording he referenced
After Sen. Markwayne Mullin suggested that the meeting between Monarez and Kennedy ahead of her firing was recorded, Cassidy said that the committee had a right to see the records.
"I will note that if materials have been provided to Sen. Mullin and invoked in official committee business, they're committee records, and all other senators on the committee have the right to see those records," Cassidy said.
He added, "I’ll also note that if he has it, I’m also curious why only one senator was given this, and why we’re just hearing about it now, and why didn’t the secretary share it at the Senate Finance Committee" hearing.
He called on HHS to release a recording, if it had one.
"I'd also like to know why it was recorded, but releasing the recording would be radical transparency, and this is about fulfilling the president's vision of radical transparency," Cassidy said.
NBC News has reached out to Mullin, HHS and lawyers for the witnesses.
Democratic senators laud Monarez after voting against her
Just weeks after voting against Monarez's confirmation on the floor of the Senate, Democrats on the committee are now heaping praise on her and Houry.
First, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., apologized to Monarez for voting against her, saying, "I had concern about your backbone, and I was wrong, and I apologize to you for being wrong. I think it’s important when you’re wrong to admit you’re wrong."
Later, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who also voted against Monarez's confirmation, told her and Houry, "I want to thank you for being public health heroes."
"When you took your positions, you swore an oath to public health and safety, not to political ideology, and you kept that promise to the American people. When confronted with pressure to make decisions based on political science, you chose real science," he added.
Meanwhile, many of the Republicans who voted to confirm her are criticizing her now.
Houry says she did not brief Kennedy on measles outbreaks
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., asked Houry whether she or a career scientist ever briefed Kennedy about recent measles outbreaks.
"We did not brief Secretary Kennedy," she responded.
She echoed Kaine's concern about health funding, noting that most CDC funding goes toward state and local communities.
"As we see budget cuts to CDC, your community will see that too," she said.
Kennedy posting ‘thank yous’ to senators critical of Monarez
From his official X account, Kennedy thanked Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who grilled Monarez about the safety and effectiveness of Covid vaccines.
Paul said ahead of the hearing that he would defend Kennedy and called on other committee members to do the same.
Kennedy also reacted to a video in which Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., called the CDC “the cause of vaccine hesitancy” and told Monarez “you are the problem.”
“Thank you, @RogerMarshallMD. We will earn back Americans’ trust and refocus the CDC on its core mission,” Kennedy wrote on X.
Sen. Kaine apologizes to Monarez, says he was wrong about her 'backbone'
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., opened his questioning by apologizing to Monarez. He said he did not question her qualifications for leading the CDC but whether she had the "backbone" for the job, considering the political climate and concerns about Kennedy's plans.
Kaine noted that he did not vote for her confirmation.
"I had concern about your backbone, and I was wrong," he said. "And I apologize to you for being wrong. I think it's important when you're wrong to admit you're wrong."
