Topline

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he would change the longstanding schedule for childhood vaccines sometime this month, reneging on a promise he made to senators during his confirmation hearing, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Susan Monarez, who said she was fired for refusing to go along with the change.

Former Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Susan Monarez testifies before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on September 17, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Getty ImagesKey Facts

Kennedy told her in a conversation in August she needed to be “on board” with the move, claiming there was “no science or evidence associated with the vaccine schedule” and said he spoke to Trump “every day” about the change, Monarez told the Senate health committee Wednesday.

Monarez also said Kennedy requested she meet with anti-vaccine lawyer Aaron Siri, who worked on Kennedy’s presidential campaign and previously petitioned the federal government to remove its approval of the polio vaccine.

Kennedy has taken several steps to review longstanding childhood vaccine practices, including re-convening a task force on childhood vaccine safety, despite making a promise to Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., during his confirmation hearing that he wouldn’t change the schedule.

Monarez testified before the Senate committee Wednesday for the first time since she was terminated in August, just 29 days after the Senate confirmed her.

Monarez said she believes she was fired because she refused to pre-approve recommendations from a CDC vaccine advisory panel and fire some vaccine advisory officials, telling the committee, “I was fired for holding the line on scientific integrity.”

Monarez said Kennedy told her “he could not trust me . . . because I had shared information related to our conversation beyond his staff,” adding, “I told him, if you cannot trust me, then you can fire me,” disputing the version of events according to Kennedy, who claimed while testifying before the committee earlier this month Monarez told him she wasn’t trustworthy and denied that he told her to go along with vaccine recommendations even if she disagreed with them.

What To Watch For

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, ACIP, meets Thursday and is expected to discuss vaccines for Covid-19, hepatitis B and measles, mumps, rubella and varicella. Kennedy abruptly removed all 17 members of the committee earlier this year and has replaced some with vaccine skeptics. Monarez told the Senate committee Wednesday she is “very nervous” about the new panel and whether “they have the commensurate backgrounds to be able to understand the data, the evidence, and to evaluate it appropriately.” The committee is expected to change the recommended age for the Hepatitis B vaccine from birth to age four, prompting concerns among health officials, as babies who contract the illness have a higher chance of developing a chronic infection and the vaccine is proven to protect around 98% of healthy infants, according to the CDC.

Tangent

Former CDC Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, who resigned in protest after Monarez’s ouster, told the committee she does not believe “we’ll be well prepared” for the disease outbreak in the U.S. “Given what I have seen that we continue down this path, we are not prepared — not just for pandemics, but for preventing chronic health disease, and we’re going to see kids dying of vaccine preventable diseases,” she said.

Key Background

Upheaval at the CDC has prompted bipartisan concerns about the future of well-established vaccine practices under Kennedy, a prominent vaccine skeptic. In addition to Houry, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Daniel Jernigan, and director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Demetre Daskalakis also resigned following Monarez’s termination, citing controversial vaccine policy moves. The shakeup coincides with limited access to the Covid-19 vaccine following new HHS restrictions on who can receive it, prompting several major pharmacies to limit distribution. Cassidy, a physician who chairs the committee, asked Monarez to testify about her termination, indicating waning confidence in Kennedy. Cassidy also criticized Kennedy during his own Senate hearing earlier this month, accusing the agency of “denying” people access to the Covid-19 vaccine by changing the vaccine schedule.

Further Reading

Trump Facing GOP Criticism On Vaccines As They’re Harder To Get—And Covid Resurges (Forbes)

CDC Turmoil: White House Reportedly Taps New Director Amid Staffer Walkout (Forbes)

White House Confirms CDC Director Susan Monarez’s Firing—Her Lawyer Pushes Back Again (Forbes)