By a vote of 51-47 on Tuesday evening, the Senate confirmed Susan Monarez, PhD, as the next director of the CDC.
The vote fell along party lines, with 51 Republicans voting for the nominee and all 45 Democratic senators and two Independent senators voting no. Two senators, Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), did not vote.
Monarez fielded a wide variety of questions during her nomination hearing last month before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Sen. Rand Paul, MD (R-Ky.), asked Monarez whether she thought it was an appropriate use of his office for then-NIH Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD, to ask Anthony Fauci, MD, then the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to “take down” three prominent scientists. Monarez answered, “I’m not familiar with that particular encounter, but we need to make sure that we are open to letting the science …”
Paul interrupted her and repeated his question, adding that it’s “sort of a yes-or-no question.” Monarez said it was not something she would do herself. Paul said he was “disappointed that we don’t get a little better answer.”
Sen. Roger Marshall, MD (R-Kan.), appeared to be satisfied with the response he got to his question on how Monarez would approach the problem of chronic disease in America. “If I’m confirmed as the CDC director [I will] continue to support the secretary and to support these critical issues and make sure that any of the activities that were supported under CDC in the previous models are successfully transitioned to other parts of HHS,” she said. “I will make sure that I’m laser focused on the mission at hand at CDC, but also as supportive as I can be to the secretary’s goals and making America healthy again, and transitioning those other programs to other parts of the agency.”
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) asked Monarez to comment on the Trump administration’s elimination of the Office on Smoking and Health. “If this is an office that’s been going for decades that has shown real effectiveness in reducing smoking, isn’t it a bad idea to completely shutter the Office on Smoking and Health and lay off all the employees and contractors?” he asked Monarez.
“Look, this is a public health priority for the secretary,” Monarez said. When Kaine asked her to name one thing [HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] had done to show that it was a priority, Monarez said Kennedy “has continued to support preventing chronic disease.” Kaine seemed unhappy with that answer. “I really have questions — not about the statements that you made in your testimony, nor about your qualifications. I’ve got questions about your willingness to follow through on your values,” he said.
Monarez was uniformly positive about Kennedy, even when several senators appeared to want her to criticize him. “When you were acting director of the CDC, Secretary Kennedy stated, ‘It’s very, very difficult for measles to kill a healthy person,'” Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) said. “Do you have any scientific concerns about Secretary Kennedy’s statement?”
“Measles is an important public health threat, and we have to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to prevent and mitigate this,” Monarez said. Hassan asked again. “Do you have any concerns about the statement? Didn’t a child die from measles while you were acting CDC director?”
“Measles can be lethal,” Monarez said. “We know from historical data that in populations, unvaccinated populations, that one in 1,000…” Hassan cut in. “So when the secretary said it’s very, very difficult for measles to kill a healthy person, no concerns from you about that?” Monarez again did not answer directly, which appeared to frustrate Hassan. “Your being able to independently state in public that you differ with the secretary is a really, really important thing, and right now you’re showing a real reluctance to do this,” she said.
Please enable JavaScript to view the