CDC leaders who resigned said RFK Jr. undermined vaccine science, risking lives

Source: Washington Post



As the CDC reels from departures, the White House appoints Jim O’Neill as acting director.
Updated August 28, 2025 at 5:04 p.m. EDT

By Lena H. Sun Lauren Weber and David Ovalle

As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reeled from the ousting of its director, three senior leaders who resigned in protest told The Washington Post they were asked to participate in an unscientific vaccine recommendation process that they believe could harm the health of Americans.

The officials spoke shortly before security officials escorted them off the CDC’s Atlanta campus Thursday morning. Staff and leaders of the agency are openly revolting against the Trump administration and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime CDC critic and anti-vaccine activist, after months of tension over vaccine policy and staffing cuts. The White House selected Jim O’Neill, Kennedy’s top deputy at HHS, to also serve as the acting CDC director, according to two people familiar with the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss personnel decisions.


Demetre Daskalakis, who resigned as the agency’s top respiratory illness and immunization official, said the CDC had reached an “unfettered situation where undue influence and ideology would drive the science.”

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The White House on Wednesday announced the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez, a longtime federal government scientist nominated by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate in July. Her attorneys have challenged the legality of her firing and said she would not resign after she refused to follow “unscientific, reckless directives.” Kennedy and other officials pressured Monarez to change vaccine policy and fire senior staff, people familiar with the conversations previously told The Post.........................................





Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/08/28/rfk-cdc-director-susan-monarez-fired/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzU2MzUzNjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzU3NzM1OTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3NTYzNTM2MDAsImp0aSI6IjJjZWYxZTAwLWE1N2UtNGVlZi04ZDY1LTI2NDVhZDNmOTIxMCIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9oZWFsdGgvMjAyNS8wOC8yOC9yZmstY2RjLWRpcmVjdG9yLXN1c2FuLW1vbmFyZXotZmlyZWQvIn0._kVM3qunmTVJqfhJraDYor2u9_rlzwEzZpJ21LWGZoc

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From left, Dan Jernigan, Deb Houry and Demetre Daskalakis resigned their posts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in protest after its director was fired. (Ben Gray/AP)