The CDC director has been banished for a vaccine policy conflict with RFK Jr.
CDC Director Susan Monales was expelled after a different vaccine policy with HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
WASHINGTON – The White House is named Jim O’Neill, head assistant deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., head assistant deputy director of Health and Human Services after firing Susan Monares the day before.
O’Neill, who was HHS’ deputy secretary, was provisionally replaced on behalf of Monares, and Trump administration officials confirmed with USA Today on August 28 after Monares was fired after a dispute with Kennedy over the vaccination policy. In his current role, O’Neill oversees all his duties in the vast HHS department.
The expulsion of Monares, which her lawyers contested, came less than a month after the Senate confirmed her the role. Her firing was followed by resignations from three other CDC staff who protested Kennedy’s leaders. Kennedy is a longtime vaccine skeptic.
O’Neill’s promotion was first reported by the Washington Post.
Monales’ lawyer said she was “targeted by Kennedy because she refused to attack scientific and reckless instructions and committed health experts.
The lawyer told USA Today that she was taking legal action to challenge her firing, claiming that President Donald Trump could only fire the CDC director, an officer appointed in the Senate where the president was appointed, not White House officers or Kennedy.
White House spokesman Caroline Leavitt pushed back that debate during an August 28 briefing with a reporter, claiming it was Trump who fired Monales after Kennedy refused to resign when he asked her to resign.
“This woman has never received a vote in her life,” Leavitt said. “The President has the authority to fire people who are not in line with his mission.”
Reach Joey Garrison with X @joeygarrison.
