The Democratic governors of three states announced on Wednesday that they are forming a new partnership to ensure their constituents receive science-based guidance on vaccines, filling the vacuum left by President Donald Trump’s “blatant politicization” of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, Tina Kotek of Oregon and Bob Ferguson of Washington cited the recent upheaval at the health agency as the main reason they felt compelled to create the West Coast Health Alliance to ensure their constituents can rely on science-based health guidance.
“President Trump’s mass firing of CDC doctors and scientists — and his blatant politicization of the agency — is a direct assault on the health and safety of the American people,” the governors said in a statement.
“The CDC has become a political tool that increasingly peddles ideology instead of science, ideology that will lead to severe health consequences. California, Oregon, and Washington will not allow the people of our states to be put at risk,” they added.
A press release explaining how the alliance will operate said the three states will work together to coordinate “health guidelines by aligning immunization recommendations informed by respected national medical organizations” to ensure Americans there are shielded from the confusion prompted by “shifting federal actions.”
Andrew Nixon, a director of communications for the HHS, slammed the move as politically motivated.
The launch of the new partnership follows a recent string of chaos at the CDC after the White House terminated Susan Monarez from the director position last week. Monarez’s lawyers said she was removed for refusing “to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts.” Four other CDC officials resigned following her ouster.
An ally of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with no formal medical training was chosen to replace Monarez on an interim basis.
Susan Monarez takes part in a hearing on her nomination for Director of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on June 25, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Kennedy, the country’s top health official under the Trump administration, who has faced swift criticism over his leadership at the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC, including about his decision to fire all members of a committee tasked with advising the U.S. government on vaccines, is set to testify on Capitol Hill on Thursday morning.
Over 1,000 HHS employees called for Kennedy’s resignation on Wednesday, accusing him of “compromising the health of this nation.” Their letter followed an op-ed by nine former leaders of the CDC published in The New York Times on Monday, warning that Kennedy’s policies are endangering the health of all Americans.
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The three states’ announcement came on the same day that Florida’s Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said the Sunshine State would soon be moving to remove all vaccine mandates, including those that require children to be vaccinated to attend public schools, comparing lifesaving shots to slavery.