Senate Confirms Susan Monares as CDC Director
Washington – The U.S. Senate confirmed Susan Monares as the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday. The vote, which passed along party lines, was 51-47.
With this role, Monares will oversee the national public health agency, which is currently facing scrutiny as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. adopts a vaccine-skeptical stance.
Notably, Tennessee GOP Senator Bill Hagerty and Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan did not participate in the voting process.
Before her confirmation, Monares served as the acting director of the CDC from January to March and was previously the deputy director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency within HHS.
Interestingly, with her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology, she becomes the first CDC director without a medical degree since 1953.
Initially, the White House nominated former U.S. Congressman Dave Weldon for the position, but that nomination was withdrawn in March.
Monares’ confirmation moved forward following a procedural vote earlier on Tuesday, where the outcome again followed party lines with a tally of 52-47.
Kennedy has faced criticism for dismissing all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Vaccination Practices (ACIP) in June, nominating eight new members, many of whom are perceived to hold skeptical views on vaccines.
Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who is part of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, expressed concerns about Kennedy’s actions. Along with seven other Democrats on the committee, he initiated an investigation into the firings and the implications for the vaccine panel.
In a letter to Kennedy, Sanders wrote, “You’ve enacted decades of science-based work by exchanging all ACIP members for your selected individuals, which puts American lives at risk.”
The Democratic committee members who joined Sanders include Senators John Hickenlooper from Colorado, Lisa Blunt Rochester from Delaware, Angela Blunt Rochester from Maryland, Ed Markey from Massachusetts, Maggie Hassan from New Hampshire, Andy Kim from New Jersey, and Tim Kaine from Virginia.
