Will fix CDC, says health secy Kennedy after White House fires its director

WASHINGTON: US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr on Thursday said he will fix the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , one day after the White House fired the health agency's director. The White House late Wednesday said that CDC Director Susan Monarez was fired because she "refused to resign despite informing HHS leadership of her intent to do so," adding that she was not "aligned with the president's agenda of Making America Healthy Again." Monarez's attorneys, Mark S. Zaid and Abbe David Lowell, rejected the White House statement, saying the firing notification was legally deficient and that she remains CDC Director.

"As a presidential appointee, senate confirmed officer, only the president himself can fire her," the lawyers said in a statement on Wednesday. They said she was notified by a White House personnel office staff member. The leadership upheaval comes as Kennedy has made sweeping changes to vaccine policies since taking office this year, including firing the CDC's expert vaccine advisory panel members and replacing them with fellow anti-vaccine activists and other hand-picked advisers.

On Thursday, Kennedy declined to comment on the specifics of the departure of Monarez and four other top officials, saying they were personnel issues. "The agency is in trouble, and we need to fix it and we are fixing it. And it may be that some people should not be working there anymore," Kennedy told Fox News.