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2d ago

Sanders Calls for RFK Jr. to Resign as CDC Turmoil Triggers Oversight Push

He cites a threat to scientific integrity that endangers vaccine access.

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) listens as U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer testifies before a Senate Finance Committee hearing on U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policy, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 8, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo/File Photo
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Debra Houry talks to workers and supporters as they rally for departing scientific leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outside the CDC headquarters, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Ben Gray)
U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends a press conference with Texas Governor Greg Abbott (not pictured) at the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, U.S., August 28, 2025.

Overview

  • President Trump removed CDC Director Susan Monarez after a clash over vaccine policy, the White House says, while her attorneys dispute that she was validly fired.
  • Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill has been installed as acting CDC director as four senior CDC officials resigned in protest and hundreds of employees staged a walkout in Atlanta.
  • Sanders made his resignation demand in a New York Times op-ed, arguing HHS leadership is undermining science and calling for congressional scrutiny of the CDC shakeup.
  • Sen. Bill Cassidy urged Senate oversight of the departures and pressed to postpone a meeting of the reconstituted vaccine advisory panel, which Kennedy refashioned after removing all 17 prior members.
  • The upheaval follows Kennedy’s rollback of certain COVID-19 vaccine recommendations and a halt or cut of roughly $500 million for mRNA vaccine work, moves that have intensified bipartisan concern about public-health readiness.