Senator Bernie Sanders is demanding that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. resign, following a wave of resignations and unrest inside the nation’s top public
health agency.
In a New York Times guest essay published Saturday, Sanders accused Kennedy of “endangering the health of the American people now and into the future” through his continued opposition to vaccines.
The call came just days after Kennedy abruptly fired Dr. Susan Monarez, the newly appointed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after she refused to support his push for new restrictions on vaccine availability. Monarez, who had been in the job for less than a month, argued that Kennedy’s proposals contradicted established science.
Her dismissal sparked turmoil inside the CDC. Four senior officials resigned in protest, and hundreds of employees staged a walkout at the agency’s Atlanta headquarters, rallying behind Monarez and denouncing what they described as anti-vaccine misinformation from Kennedy’s leadership team.
Sanders, who sits as the top Democrat-aligned member on the Senate health committee, said Kennedy ousted Monarez simply because she wouldn’t “rubber-stamp his dangerous policies.” Sanders also pointed out that vaccines—from polio to COVID-19—have saved hundreds of millions of lives, dismissing Kennedy’s views as conspiracy-driven and rejected by the broader medical community.
Kennedy, a longtime lawyer and outspoken vaccine skeptic, rose to national prominence during his failed presidential bid last year. While he champions healthy living through diet and exercise, he has also spread theories about vaccines and other medical issues that mainstream scientists overwhelmingly reject.
This week, Kennedy drew fresh criticism after claiming he could diagnose children in airports as suffering from “mitochondrial challenges” and “inflammation” simply by observing their movements—a statement that baffled doctors.
Kennedy was nominated by President Donald Trump earlier this year and confirmed in February as health secretary, despite widespread pushback from health experts. During his Senate confirmation hearing in May, Kennedy himself admitted Americans should not rely on him for medical advice.
A spokesperson for Kennedy did not respond to requests for comment. Photo by Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, Wikimedia commons.
