ISTANBUL
US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr defended widespread personnel changes Thursday at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
He told the Senate Finance Committee that he needs to dismiss officials who failed during the coronavirus pandemic.
"I need to fire some of those people and make sure this doesn't happen again," Kennedy said, referring to CDC leadership changes that have created unprecedented upheaval at the agency.
Kennedy criticized the CDC's pandemic response, stating the agency "failed our responsibility miserably during COVID when its disastrous, nonsensical policies destroyed small businesses, violated civil liberties, closed our schools, and caused generational damage in doing so."
He argued that personnel changes were "absolutely necessary adjustments to restore the agency to its role as the world's gold standard public health agency" and blamed CDC officials for America's health outcomes.
"We are the sickest country in the world," said Kennedy. "That's why we have to fire people at CDC, they did not do their job."
Kennedy promised greater transparency to restore public faith in the CDC. "Americans have lost faith in the CDC, and we need to restore that faith, and we are going to do that by telling the truth, and not through propaganda," he said.
When questioned about fired CDC Director Susan Monarez's Wall Street Journal op-ed, alleging she was told to pre-approve vaccine advisory panel recommendations, Kennedy responded that she was "lying."
Leadership crisis
Kennedy's tenure has triggered unprecedented CDC upheaval, including Monarez's firing in August after one month, and coordinated resignations of four top officials. The crisis followed Kennedy's dismissal of all 17 Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices members in June and massive layoffs at the agency.
Kennedy emphasized his broader Make America Healthy Again agenda, stating that the HHS is implementing "a once in a generation shift from a sick care system to a true health care system that tackles the root causes of chronic disease."
The CDC operates under acting leadership with Jim O'Neill serving as HHS Deputy Secretary and Acting CDC Director.