Former CDC official warns Kennedy is eroding scientific integrity
Debra Houry said CDC was in “pure chaos” as Kennedy overhauled vaccine policy, citing the purge of 17 advisers, Monarez’s firing and emails released by Sanders.
On June 9, 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services removed all 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee and planned to replace them. Former CDC chief medical officer Debra Houry said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was in “pure chaos” as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pushed to remake the agency’s vaccine policy and staffing. In a July 5 interview, Houry said the scientific integrity of federal health agencies was at risk, pointing to Kennedy’s refusal to take a briefing on an ongoing measles outbreak, misinformation he spread about the measles vaccine and repeated political requests to reopen old decisions at taxpayer expense.
Thirteen of the 17 sitting advisers had been appointed in 2024 and would have prevented the administration from choosing a majority of the panel until 2028, HHS said. Kennedy called the move a “clean sweep” needed to restore public confidence in vaccine science. Houry said that approach put politics ahead of the evidence that the committee was created to review.
On June 25, 2026, Sen. Bernie Sanders released internal HHS and CDC emails. Sanders said the messages showed Kennedy changing vaccine recommendations without CDC expert review, steering the ACIP agenda toward restricting access to vaccines, canceling flu vaccine campaigns during a severe flu season and pressing staff to pursue confidential data that could be used to support the long-discredited claim that vaccines cause autism. The emails also showed discussion of removing vaccines from the Vaccines for Children program, which Sanders said had prevented about 508 million illnesses in children born from 1994 through 2023.
Susan Monarez was sworn in as CDC director on July 31, 2025 and fired by the White House on Aug. 27, 2025, less than a month later. Her ouster prompted resignations from four top CDC officials, including Houry and Demetre Daskalakis. Houry and Daskalakis said they feared decisions were being made before the data and science were in place, warning that public trust would erode if recommendations already vetted by scientists were relitigated. The turmoil came against the backdrop of an Aug. 8, 2025 gunman attack on CDC headquarters in Atlanta. Kennedy did not respond to a request for comment.
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