Some health experts say Cassidy deserves the confusion of the CDC as a doctor who was worried about Kennedy’s vaccine views but voted to confirm him.
CDC Director was fired amid White House clashes over public health agenda
The White House says it fired CDC director Susan Monares after refusing to step down, citing his lack of alignment with President Trump’s agenda.
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The disruption at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has sparked bipartisan concerns and has put the spotlight on key senators to ensure Kennedy has secured work.
CDC Director Susan Monares has been fired following a dispute with Kennedy over vaccination policy. After the end of Monares, on August 27th, CDC Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry and his top official in vaccination and infectious diseases followed by letters of resignation.
Sen. Bill Cassidy of R-Louisiana in a social media post on August 27, “We need supervision,” chaired by the Senate committee.
The shakeup comes after Kennedy was criticised for his mixed message about the measles outbreak, fired the vaccine advisory board and cut $500 million in funding for the development of mRNA technology used in the two most common Covid-19 vaccines. Cassidy spoke about some of Kennedy’s moves, including cutting funding for mRNA research.
Longtime vaccine skeptic Kennedy retracted the federal government’s recommendations on covid shots for pregnant women and healthy children, and followed up in June by removing all 17 members of the CDC’s expert vaccine panel.
In addition to calling for surveillance after the CDC shakeup, Cassidy said in a statement on August 28 that the agency’s Vaccine Advisory Committee should postpone its September 18 meeting indefinitely. Kennedy replaced members of the fired vaccine panel with hand-picked advisors, including fellow anti-vaccine activists.
“These decisions have a direct impact on the health of children and meetings should not be made until there is significant oversight,” Cassidy said.
Cassidy said “serious allegations” have been made about the panel’s “lack of membership and scientific process.”
“If the meeting proceeds, given the seriousness of the allegations in CDC leadership and the current confusion, any recommendations made should be rejected as lack of legitimacy,” he added.
However, some health experts believe Cassidy is worried about Kennedy’s views on the vaccine but deserves blame for what is happening as a doctor in an important leadership position who voted to confirm him anyway. So Cassidy needs to do more than surveillance, according to Dr. Thomas Farley, a former top public health official in New York City and Philadelphia.
“Now, Cassidy argued that he needs to fire Kennedy, “I think he’s baring his responsibility to stop Cassidy (Kennedy) from causing more damage.”
Cassidy’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Cassizing vote
A longtime environmental lawyer, Kennedy has no educational background in medicine or healthcare. He ran for president as an independent in 2024, but dropped out of the race and supported Trump.
Antidepressants are linked to school shootings, in his most controversial statement that Wi-Fi has caused cancer, fluoride in public water systems has caused bone cancer and loss of IQ, and that Covid-19 has been “ethnically targeted” to attack “white and black people” and “ethnically targeted” to attack “Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.”
Cassidy was considered an important swing vote during the January confirmation process. Kennedy’s nomination was supported by Cassidy and advanced to the Senate Finance Committee 14-13.
“I’ve been struggling with your nomination,” Cassidy told Kennedy honestly during the confirmation process. “The 71-year-old man who spent decades criticizing vaccines… can he approach him by changing his attitude because he has the most important position to influence vaccine policy in the United States?”
The Louisiana Senators ultimately voted to advance Kennedy’s appointment to the committee, and joined with all Republicans other than Senator R-Kentucky, voted on the Senator’s floor to confirm Kennedy as Kennedy’s secretary.
In his floor speech, Cassidy said Kennedy and members of the Trump administration reached out to reassure him “about their commitment to protecting the public health benefits of vaccination,” and he received a “guarantee.” The senators also promised to be on guard.
“If Mr. Kennedy is confirmed, I will use my authority… I will refuse any attempt to remove public access to a life-saving vaccine without Ironclad. “We will take a close look at the efforts that will mistakenly soothe the public’s fears about vaccines.”
Cassidy’s role in the verification process is now resurfaced as Kennedy works to rebuild the CDC in ways many health professionals find surprising.
Some Kennedy critics have pointed their fingers at Cassidy for his confirmation vote.
“We could have prevented most of this by not checking one senator, RFK, Jr.. In my view, Cassidy is truly responsible as a doctor!” Dr. Douglas Henry, former executive vice president and CEO of the US Academy of Family Physicians, wrote on social media on August 28, in response to another doctor criticizing Kennedy after CDC’s resignation.
Farley believes Cassidy is under great political pressure to approve President Donald Trump’s HHS pick. He is re-election for Trump, a state that earned 22% points in 2026.
“He succumbed to that pressure, so it was a mistake that we could all suffer,” said Farley, who once worked for the CDC. “I hope he can understand how to fix that mistake now.”
Kennedy is in conflict with the CDC
Monares, who earned a PhD in Microbiology and previously worked at the Department of Homeland Security’s National Security Council and the White House, was expelled less than a month after the Senate confirmed her the role. Her lawyer said she was targeted because she “refused to shoot scientific and reckless instructions and dedicated medical professionals.”
Kennedy told Fox News that the CDC “we’re in trouble, so we need to fix it and we’re fixing it.”
“And maybe some people shouldn’t work there anymore,” he added.
For Kennedy’s critics, the past seven months have only confirmed his fitness reservations for the country’s top health jobs.
Democrats are calling for Kennedy to be fired amid the CDC turbulent.
Rep. Don Beyer of D-Virginia called Kennedy “crackpot conspiracy theory” and “cook” in an August 28 social media post, saying that if President Donald Trump doesn’t fire him, he will “be responsible for the resulting unnecessary and preventable illnesses and death.”
Contributors: Joey Garrison, Ben Adler, Reuters, Savanna Kucha, Swapna Benugopal Ramaswamy
