Approximately 1,000 current and former federal health employees have signed an open letter calling for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s resignation, citing his “dangerous” policies and actions that they say are compromising America’s public health infrastructure.
The call for Kennedy’s removal comes after Kennedy fired the Centers for Disease Control’s newly confirmed director, Susan Monarez, and triggered the resignations of four top CDC officials within a single week in late August.
According to sources familiar with the situation, Kennedy demanded that Monarez endorse vaccine policy changes and fire high-level staff, which she declined to do.
Monarez’s firing immediately triggered a wave of resignations from senior CDC officials, including:
- Dr. Debra Houry, Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director
- Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases
- Dr. Daniel Jernigan, Director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases
- Dr. Jennifer Layden, Director of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology
Earlier this year, Kennedy made the unprecedented decision to remove all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the influential panel that makes vaccine recommendations for Americans. He replaced them with eight hand-picked members, several of whom have expressed vaccine-skeptical views.
Among the controversial new appointees are:
- Robert Malone, who has made inaccurate claims about COVID-19 and measles vaccines
- Retsef Levi, who has opposed mRNA vaccines and leads the COVID-19 work group
- David Geier, a supporter of debunked theories linking vaccines to autism
The resignation letter directly links Kennedy’s rhetoric to the August 8 shooting at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, where a gunman fired over 500 rounds, killing police officer David Rose. Investigators found that the shooter harbored grievances against COVID-19 vaccines and believed he had suffered adverse effects from vaccination.
The health workers argue that Kennedy’s inflammatory statements have contributed to a climate of mistrust and violence against public health officials. They specifically cited his description of the CDC as a “cesspool of corruption” and his comment that “trusting experts is not a feature of either a science or democracy.”
Nine former CDC directors also published a New York Times op-ed accusing Kennedy of endangering American health. Senator Bernie Sanders has similarly called for Kennedy’s resignation, writing that he is “endangering the health of the American people now and into the future.”
Public health experts warn that the leadership exodus and policy changes could severely impact the nation’s ability to respond to health emergencies. The resignations have created what experts call a “brain drain” at the CDC, removing decades of institutional knowledge and expertise in infectious disease response, vaccine safety, and public health surveillance.
The letter signatories, representing employees across all major HHS agencies including the FDA, NIH, and CDC, emphasized they signed “in their own personal capacities” due to their oath to “support and defend the United States Constitution and to serve the American people.”
Kennedy is scheduled to testify before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday.
