Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. never asked to be briefed by scientists at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), said a former CDC director who stepped down in the wake of the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez on Wednesday.

Newsweek reached out to HHS via online form on Thursday for comment.

Why It Matters

The CDC is the primary public health agency for the United States. A federal agency under the HHS, the CDC is responsible for protecting the health of the nation through disease control and prevention. It is a global leader on infectious and chronic diseases and a go-to source of health information.

The removal of Monarez comes amid criticism from some experts of public health policy in the second term of President Donald Trump, in particular his appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a known vaccine skeptic, as HHS secretary.

Kennedy’s views around vaccinations, raw milk and water fluoridation have faced staunch opposition from public health experts who warn of their health risks.

The revelation from Demetre Daskalakis, the former director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, in an interview with CNN that Kennedy never sought experts’ advice will compound concerns among critics of his leadership.

What To Know

Daskalakis, responding to a question about what Kennedy should be asked if he were to appear at a Senate hearing, said: “Has he ever been briefed by a CDC expert on anything? Specifically, measles, COVID-19, flu? I think people should ask him that.

“The answer is no. No one from my center has ever briefed him on any of those topics. He’s getting information from somewhere, but that information is not coming from CDC experts, who really are the world’s experts in this area.

“Perhaps he has alternate experts that he may trust more than the experts at CDC that the rest of the world regards as the best scientists in these areas,” he said.

This month, Kennedy announced a departmental decision to pull a total of $500 million in federal funding for 22 mRNA vaccine development projects “because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu.”

In June, Kennedy removed all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and replaced them with people who have expressed skepticism about the current immunization schedule and previously spread vaccine misinformation.

The removal of Monarez and the resignations of Daskalakis, along with Debra Houry, chief medical officer at the CDC, and Daniel Jernigan as director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, deepens a leadership vacuum at the $9.2 billion agency as lawmakers demand oversight and warn that the Kennedy-reshaped vaccine panel lacks credibility.

The upheaval at the CDC signals an extraordinary rupture between its scientific leadership and political leadership at HHS during a period of major policy change to vaccine advisory structures and funding.

President Donald Trump nominated RFK Jr. to head the department, which he has since pushed forward under the campaign of Making America Healthy Again.

What People Are Saying

Kennedy said during a Thursday press conference with Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott: “There’s a lot of trouble at CDC, and it’s going to require getting rid of some people over the long term in order for us to change the institutional culture and bring back pride and self-esteem and make that agency the stellar agency that it’s always been.”

Daniel Jernigan, who has resigned as director, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CDC, told CNN: “I’ve been at CDC for 30 years, I’ve been through multiple different administrations, we’ve been able to work with a lot of different folks, different ideologies, but we always focussed on the science. Right now, I’m not sure.”

Debra Houry, who has also resigned as told CNN: “When you can’t make things work, sometimes leaving is the statement to make.”

What Happens Next

The Trump Administration named Jim O’Neill, a top deputy to RFK Jr., as the new acting chief of the CDC after Monarez’s ouster.