WASHINGTON —
President Donald Trump has fired Susan Monarez as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), less than a month after her Senate confirmation, amid a series of resignations and concerns over the agency's upcoming vaccine meeting. A senior administration official says Jim O’Neill, Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, will be the new acting CDC director.
Several top CDC officials have resigned, citing Monarez's ouster as the final straw, which has shaken trust in the nation's top health agency, even among Republicans.
The turmoil triggered rare bipartisan alarm as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., tries to advance anti-vaccine policies that are contradicted by decades of scientific research.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, who chairs the committe