Former CDC directors say RFK Jr.'s actions should alarm every American' [View all]

Source: USA Today

Updated Sept. 1, 2025, 4:50 p.m. ET


WASHINGTON – Every American should be alarmed at what’s happening to the nation’s public health system under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nine former leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are warning. In an opinion piece published in The New York Times on Sept. 1, the former directors wrote that what Kennedy is doing is “unlike anything our country has ever experienced.”

Most recently, Kennedy fired Susan Monarez as CDC director following a dispute over vaccination policy. That led to the resignation of other top officials. Kennedy said the agency needs an overhaul. “There’s a lot of trouble at the CDC and it’s going to require getting rid of some people over the long term, in order for us to change the institutional culture,” he said after Monarez was ousted.

The nine former CDC directors speaking out wrote they’re concerned not just about Monarez's firing, but also about Kennedy’s dismissal of thousands of other federal health workers; his approach to the recent measles outbreak; his choices for federal health panels and his support for federal legislation that is expected to reduce the number of people on Medicaid.

“This is unacceptable, and it should alarm every American, regardless of political leanings,” they wrote. The former top health officials urged the nation to “rally to protect the health of every American.” Congress should exercise its oversight authority, they wrote.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/09/01/cdc-directors-rfk-jr-public-health/85927837007/