Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez is set to testify before the Senate on Wednesday. This will be her first public appearance since her dismissal from the agency. Monarez plans to present a detailed timeline of events leading to her firing, as outlined in her prepared testimony.

In her testimony, Monarez alleges that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. instructed her to accept recommendations from a CDC vaccine advisory panel without question and to terminate career officials responsible for vaccine policy. "He said if I was unwilling to do both, I should resign. I responded that I could not pre-approve recommendations without reviewing the evidence, and I had no basis to fire scientific experts," she intends to say.

Monarez also claims that Kennedy had discussions with the White House about her termination prior to their meeting. "I could have kept the office and the title. But I would have lost the one thing that cannot be replaced: my integrity," she plans to assert.

Kennedy has publicly disputed Monarez's account during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on September 4. When asked by Senator Ron Wyden if he told Monarez to go along with vaccine recommendations regardless of scientific evidence, Kennedy replied, "No, I did not."

In a heated exchange with Senator Elizabeth Warren, Kennedy noted that he had previously described Monarez as "unimpeachable" shortly after her confirmation. He stated, "I told her that she had to resign because I asked her, 'Are you a trustworthy person?' And she said, 'No.'"

Monarez will be joined at the hearing by Deb Houry, a former chief medical officer at the CDC, who also resigned in protest after Monarez's ousting. Their resignations raised concerns about Kennedy's vaccine policy agenda, which they felt lacked sufficient scientific backing.

The two former officials will testify before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), chaired by Republican Senator Bill Cassidy. Cassidy, who was initially supportive of Kennedy, has since become one of his critics. He stated, "To protect children's health, Americans need to know what has happened and is happening at the CDC. They need to be reassured that their child's health is given priority. Radical transparency is the only way to do that."

Cassidy's decision to hold this hearing indicates a shift in his relationship with Kennedy. During Kennedy's recent Senate hearing, Cassidy accused him of undermining President Donald Trump's legacy regarding Operation Warp Speed, the initiative that expedited the COVID vaccine development.

Democratic Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester, a member of the HELP Committee, expressed that Cassidy's invitation for Monarez to testify reflects a decline in support for Kennedy. "I think Secretary Kennedy's actions at the Finance Committee left a lot of not just Democrats, but Republicans very unsettled," she said.

Several Republican senators have also criticized Kennedy's management of the CDC. Senate Majority Leader John Thune stated that Kennedy must take responsibility for Monarez's firing, which occurred just four weeks after her Senate confirmation. Senator Susan Collins of Maine expressed that there was no justification for the termination.

Monarez gained attention when she refused to resign after her dismissal was announced by HHS in late August. She requested that Trump intervene and fire her directly if he agreed with Kennedy's decision. Monarez contends that she was forced out for not endorsing Kennedy's agenda or dismissing senior scientists.

Kennedy's recent actions have included canceling approximately $500 million in contracts for mRNA vaccines and altering recommendations for COVID-19 vaccinations for healthy children and pregnant women. He has also overseen a narrowing of approval for updated COVID shots to only those over 65 or younger individuals with underlying health conditions.

Later this month, a CDC committee will convene to discuss broader vaccine recommendations, including those for measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Kennedy has replaced all committee members with individuals he has selected, some of whom have previously criticized vaccines.

When asked about potential limitations on vaccine access, Kennedy stated that the committee would make decisions following a "real gold standard scientific review." Monarez emphasized the need for a trustworthy CDC, stating, "Parents deserve a CDC they can trust to put children above politics, evidence above ideology and facts above fear. I was fired for holding that line." Kennedy defended the recent changes at the CDC, calling them necessary to restore the agency's role in protecting Americans from infectious diseases.