RFK Jr. defends CDC director Susan Monarez’s firing
“There are a lot of problems with the CDC,” RFK Jr. said after firing Susan Monares over a vaccine policy conflict.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is fighting several fires.
The day before the Health Secretary made his appearance on the Senate Finance Committee, more than 1,000 current and former Health and Human Services officials called for Kennedy to step down from his position as they discussed President Donald Trump’s 2026 health care agenda on September 4th.
The letter will be followed in office just a month after Susan Monales, the outcast of CDC director Susan Monales, after a disagreement over vaccine policy with Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who promoted the controversial, unfounded theory that links vaccines to autism. Monales’ firing was followed by resignations from three other CDC staff who protested Kennedy’s leaders.
Meanwhile, some of Kennedy’s core “Again American Health” constituencies are unhappy with not doing enough to regulate pesticides, particularly glyphosate, the main active ingredient in Roundup.
Citing the provisions of the Congressional Budget Bill that provides immunity to pesticide manufacturers, Zen Honeycutt, one of Kennedy’s most solid supporters and one of the founders of moms across the United States, is an organization that raises awareness about food supply and environmental toxins, and she warned Trump that she “signs Republicans poisons.”
Signed by more than 240 people, including many prominent MAHA activists, doctors and farmers, the letter warned that it represents “the danger of a Republican majority in the mid-2026 House of Representatives.”
Kennedy and his Maha base have long been railroading to limit the spread of Covid-19, raising questions about the safety and efficacy of mRNA vaccines, a technology used to develop Covid vaccines. On April 27, Kennedy announced that emergency use permits for the Covid-19 vaccine have ended.
Under updated approval, the Covid-19 vaccine is recommended only for 65 or more young people with underlying health conditions. At the same time, anyone who wants to consult with a doctor and get it is available to you.
In August, the Department of Health and Human Services closed 22 federally funded mRNA vaccine programs representing $500 million in strategic biomedical research.
Rock Mahamaga Alliance?
Kennedy ran for president as a Democrat in 2024, then switched to independence and ultimately supported Trump. When he joined Trump camp, he brought with him his newly minted “American Health Again” movement, with Trump promising Kennedy to “become wild” about health, food and medicine.
Kennedy’s base, made up primarily of independents, was essential to Trump’s victory.
But his nomination by Trump, who leads HHS, will become one of the most divisive cabinet picks. His promotion of conspiracy theory claiming vaccines can cause autism, linking antidepressants to school shootings, and even suggesting WiFi, leading to health professionals and democratic lawmakers.
However, his claim that the large foods and large pharmaceuticals behind the “chronic disease epidemic” with additives and junk food have gained support from society, particularly the mother’s cross section.
In April, he announced that eight artificial dyes would be phased out from the drug and the country’s food supply by the end of 2026, including those found in candy, ice cream, soft drinks and jams. The move has earned bipartisan praise.
Vaccines, CDC, Trump’s Truth Social Post
Kennedy’s headache only grew on September 3rd. After Pfizer suggested that Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize for Operation Warp Speed, which was launched by Trump in 2020 in response to the pandemic. The initiative gathered results and companies quickly developed a vaccine a year later to stop the virus. Kennedy calls the Covid vaccine “the deadliest vaccine ever made.”
Pfizer’s statement (Trump has not made a secret to longing for Nobel) comes after Trump expressed his ambiguity about the vaccine’s success in the Truth Social Post on September 1. The post comes days after Adminstartion handled the fallout from his resignation at the CDC over vaccine policy.
“Many people think they’re a miracle that saved millions of lives. Others don’t agree!” Trump said of Covid-19 drugs, including vaccines created by Pfizer, Moderna and other pharmaceutical companies. “I want the answer because the CDC is torn apart with this question, but I want it now.”
Maha Action President Tony Lyons celebrated Trump’s demands.
“Secretary Kennedy and President Trump are working to protect Americans from conflicts of interest ramping up the American people, from blatant corruption that hurts the American people, and from poisoning children by putting people first to the people,” he said. “This is a big step in that direction.”
Meanwhile, others thought Trump might be hedging his bet.
“They show me a lot of numbers and results, but they don’t seem to show them to many others. I want them to show them now and show them to the CDC and the public. “I hope that Warp Speed is just as ‘glorious’ as many people do. Otherwise, we all want to know about it, why? ”
Arthur Kaplan, founder of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s medical ethics division, said the post from Trump is trying to walk the line between easing some of the vaccine-skeptical Maha base, while also trying to leave the door to keep him away from Kennedy if that comes.
Ultimately, Kaplan said Trump made the vaccine a core part of his response to Covid and worked closely with the pharmaceutical company on approval of the original vaccine.
“My reading about that announcement was that he felt pressured to do something about Kennedy, who went too far in terms of opposition to the vaccine and causing so much confusion,” he said. “Kennedy has created such confusion, so he’s buying time.”
As far as they post raw data, Caplan said it’s pointless for a pharmaceutical company to do that, as critics say the data is unreliable.
“Pharmaceutical companies rely on scholars to conduct research independently and to have them participate in peer-reviewed journals,” he said.
White House spokesman Caroline Leavitt said the president “has the utmost confidence and confidence in leading the HHS in Secretary Kennedy.
At the same time, she acknowledged that Trump’s pledge to “make America healthy again” was “the key to his election day victory in 2024.”
The letter of the Maha leader implied that very sensitive coalition – creating a broad range of liability protections for pesticides “is a lost issue for your party and your coalition, and may sacrifice a majority of the mid-term home to you.”
On September 3, Pfizer CEO Albert Brula said he welcomed Trump’s call for transparency.
“To date, data on Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccines have appeared in over 600 peer-reviewed publications,” he said in a statement. “Detailed US FDA data has been submitted to regulators in 130 countries and after thorough review and analysis, all vaccines have been approved.”
In response to Trump’s request, the company added a link to the Pfizer website with updates on published research and safety data.
Paul Offit, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Vaccine Education Center, and voice Kennedy critics, said Trump may be misinterpreting Maha’s appeal to soothe his base.
His base may generally be behind Kennedy and Maha, but he said that is true when it comes to “anti-big food and anti-big AG.”
“It’s true and I think a lot of people feel we can eat better and we can live longer, but most people support the vaccine, and most parents support the vaccine, Republicans, or Democrats,” he said. Many polls show that it is true. Nearly 80% of US adults support the use of vaccines to prevent disease, according to the NBC News Decise Desk Poll, which was announced in June.
When asked about vaccine use to prevent illness, 69% of Republicans, 93% of Democrats and 76% of independents responded to an NBC poll that supports vaccinations to protect public health.
Outfit said HHS’ deep budgets and staff cuts are undermining its ability to collect and manage public health data in the event of an outbreak of illness.
“I think that’s a disaster. I think RFK Junior has reduced the CDC. I think it’s in all aspects, including surveillance capabilities.”
It was expected that a second MAHA strategy report would be released in August after publishing his first MAHA report in May to establish the “Make America Healthy Again” committee, to investigate chronic illnesses and submit plans to combat childhood illnesses.
A White House spokesperson confirmed that the report was submitted, but said there is no scheduled date for publication.
However, a leaked draft of the report has been published by the New York Times. The White House did not comment on the truth behind the report.
Honeycutt called the statement in the draft pesticide report “very disappointing.”
“The pesticide report in this Maha Committee report was clearly affected by the impact of chemical companies,” she wrote on her blog, adding that the report “protects the benefits of pesticides and addresses the convenience of agrochemical farmers.”
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA Today. X @swapnavenugopalswapna venugopal Ramaswamy can follow her on X @swapnavenugopalswapna, White House correspondent for USA Today.
