Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Susan Monarez will be in the spotlight Wednesday at a high-profile Senate hearing, as Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) appears to try to drive a wedge between Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and President Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cassidy has shown growing frustration with Kennedy and the chaos he is causing across the federal health department. Wednesday\u2019s hearing will spotlight some of Kennedy\u2019s most high-profile critics within the public health system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Monarez is set to testify in Cassidy\u2019s Health Committee alongside Deborah Houry, the CDC\u2019s former chief medical officer who resigned in protest after Monarez was fired. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a matter of weeks earlier this year, Monarez was endorsed by Kennedy, confirmed by the GOP-controlled Senate, and then subsequently ousted, she says, because she would not go along with Kennedy\u2019s vaccine agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to testimony obtained by The Hill, Monarez will say she was fired for \u201cholding the line on scientific integrity\u201d and refusing to bow under pressure from Kennedy to preapprove recommendations by the agency\u2019s independent vaccine advisory committee Kennedy stocked with vaccine skeptics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wednesday\u2019s hearing marks the latest high-stakes moment for Cassidy, a physician-turned-politician from deep-red Louisiana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cassidy agonized about supporting Kennedy\u2019s confirmation due to his record of anti-vaccine views, but ultimately cast the deciding vote for the nomination to advance out of committee after receiving assurances about vaccine policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two-term senator has been on politically shaky ground since he voted to convict President Trump in his impeachment trial over the Jan. 6 riot. Trump has so far remained neutral in Cassidy\u2019s reelection campaign, but the senator\u2019s decision to call Monarez to testify about her departure could rankle the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GOP senators deferred to Cassidy\u2019s expertise and prerogative as committee chair, though some questioned whether such a hearing was necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m not the biggest fan of retrospective hearings. I\u2019m not sure how much we\u2019ll learn,\u201d Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told The Hill. \u201c[Monarez] is a political appointee. She serves at the pleasure of the president. My understanding is president asked her to resign. She said no. He fired her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has tangled with Cassidy over vaccines in past hearings, said he thought Monarez\u2019s claim about being asked to rubber-stamp anti-vaccine recommendations was \u201cmade up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think that she didn\u2019t go to the position with good faith. She did not go to the position willing to support the science,\u201d Paul said. \u201cI think it was right of her to leave the administration, and frankly, I\u2019m glad she\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Until recently, Cassidy has proceeded cautiously. He has called for oversight without directly criticizing Kennedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In February, he praised Kennedy for a tepid endorsement of the measles vaccine amid an outbreak in West Texas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Kennedy fired all 17 members of the CDC\u2019s vaccine panel, Cassidy responded on social media but did not openly question Kennedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOf course, now the fear is that the ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion,\u201d he wrote at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when Kennedy testified before the Senate Finance Committee following his ouster of Monarez, Cassidy grilled the secretary on his vaccine skepticism, arguing his actions flew in the face of one of Trump\u2019s biggest achievements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEffectively, we\u2019re denying people vaccines,\u201d Cassidy told Kennedy in a contentious exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re wrong,\u201d Kennedy shot back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the strongest pushback and most contentious public exchange between the two since Kennedy\u2019s term began. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the hearing and repeatedly after, Cassidy has called for Trump to receive a Nobel Peace Prize for work developing Operation Warp Speed for the COVID-19 vaccines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cassidy repeated that call in an op-ed published in the conservative National Review magazine Tuesday with Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the second-ranked Republican in the Senate and a fellow former physician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOperation Warp Speed was more than a medical achievement. It was a triumph of American greatness and leadership. It was the type of success that reminds us why the President of the United States is the leader of the free world,\u201d the senators wrote. \u201cThe Nobel Peace Prize has been given for much less. The next one should go to President Trump.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In another nod to Trump, Cassidy framed Wednesday\u2019s hearing with Monarez as \u201cdelivering President Trump\u2019s mission to restore radical transparency\u201d at the CDC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, Cassidy urged Kennedy to join him in endorsing a childhood vaccine for whooping cough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to work together to stop pertussis. Your strong public support for this vaccine will save lives,\u201d Cassidy wrote in an open letter, citing Trump\u2019s recent comments supporting vaccines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey just pure and simple work. They\u2019re not controversial at all,\u201d Trump said in the Oval Office on Sept. 5. \u201cAnd I think those vaccines should be used, otherwise some people are going to catch it and they endanger other people. And when you don\u2019t have controversy at all, I think people should take it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n