WASHINGTON, DC -- Under the anti-vaccine views of U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., infectious diseases like measles that were once largely eliminated in the U.S. are now spreading rampantly throughout American communities and the scientific leadership at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is being muzzled, ousted, and resigning en masse to protest the partisan interference by Trump officials who are seeking to upend vaccine advisory structures and funding and putting public health at serious risk.

Recently confirmed CDC Director Susan Monarez was fired by President Trump this week. Her attorney stated that Ms. Monarez “refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts” to protect “the public over serving a political agenda.” Her attorney also accused Secretary Kennedy of “weaponizing public health for political gain” and “putting millions of American lives at risk” by purging health officials from government.

This comes on the heels of an investigation from KFF Health News that found: “In the month after Donald Trump took office, his administration interfered with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention communications, stalled the agency’s reports, censored its data, and abruptly laid off staff. In the chaos, CDC experts felt restrained from talking openly with local public health workers.”

Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a leading member of the Senate Appropriations Committee who opposed Kennedy’s nomination, issued the following statement:

“There’s no sensible rationale for Secretary Kennedy spreading medical misinformation, hollowing out the CDC, and compromising the agency’s ability to protect public health. The Trump Administration is targeting scientific experts, researchers, and non-partisan leaders who refuse to rubber-stamp fabricated, crackpot theories.

“The Trump inflicted brain-drain at the CDC puts public health at risk and undermines the nation’s public health response.

“Secretary Kennedy has no medical training or expertise. He wants to impose his theories and beliefs on people over the evidence-based advice of medical experts. He is halting promising cancer research and slamming the door on new treatments that could improve or save patient’s lives. It’s not Director Monarez who should be fired, it’s Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who should be ousted and replaced with someone more competent and capable.”

The Washington Post notes: “Since taking office, Kennedy has upended the government’s approach to vaccination, including firing every member of an advisory committee that recommends vaccines, terminating research funding for mRNA vaccines and reviving a task force to scrutinize the childhood immunization schedule.

“The leadership disruption at the CDC follows months of chaos, including budget cuts, the termination of hundreds of employees and an attack on its Atlanta headquarters by a gunman who fired hundreds of rounds at the campus buildings.

“After news of efforts to oust Monarez, at least three top CDC officials announced their resignations Wednesday, citing lost funding, the political climate and a broader attack on public health, according to their emails to staff obtained by The Washington Post.”