WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) questioned Susan Monarez, the former Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), after she was fired by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy for failing to perform her duties. During the hearing, Sen. Tuberville called out Monarez for deceiving the public about her firing.
Read Sen. Tuberville’s remarks below or watch on YouTube or Rumble.
TUBERVILLE: “Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Dr. Monarez, you and I spoke, I guess, a little over a month ago in my office. And we talked about trust, and that was really my number one concern because President Trump was elected by the American people to make changes. And our healthcare system during COVID—there was a lot of things that were exposed. CDC was one of them. We’re looking for somebody that could run the CDC for change and get the trust back [for] the American people.
Do you agree or disagree that the CDC Director reports to the HHS Secretary?”
MONAREZ: “The CDC Director does report to the HHS Secretary, yes.”
TUBERVILLE: “Yeah. Do you believe that President Trump has a right and the authority to pick his Cabinet?”
MONAREZ: “He does.”
TUBERVILLE: “After you were nominated, what kind of conversations did you have with Secretary Kennedy before your confirmation, or was there any?”
MONAREZ: “Between the nomination and the confirmation, I don’t believe—I don’t recall any engagement.”
TUBERVILLE: “What about before your nomination period?”
MONAREZ: “We did have some conversations, yes.”
TUBERVILLE: “Yeah. Very positive, I hope.”
MONAREZ: “He was excited about […] my priorities—restoring trust, transforming public health infrastructure, modernizing the agency, preparing for the next pandemic. We had some productive engagements about the technological innovations that I wanted to bring to the CDC. I was enthusiastic, and I believe he was as well.”
TUBERVILLE: “So, the problem I have here is, you know, probably this conversation should have been maybe a little bit more private—after all this. That’s how I handled all my mine if people were let go. Back when I had some kind of control over a situation. But that being said, it’s hard to explain, you know, you’re here to find out who’s telling the truth because there’s a lot of discrepancies on both sides after Secretary Kennedy[‘s hearing last week], and now you are here today.
The American people want bureaucrats to understand, we didn’t elect you—we want you to do your job. Okay? And I think you agree with that. America needs better than this, at the end of the day. And so, I’m gonna ask some questions here.
Did you tell the Secretary you were untrustworthy?”
MONAREZ: “He asked me—he didn’t ask me; he told me he could not trust me. He told me he could not trust me because I had shared information related to our conversation beyond his staff. I told him, ‘If you cannot trust me, then you can fire me.'”
TUBERVILLE: “Okay. Did you remove or work to actively undermine political leadership appointed by President Trump?”
MONAREZ: “I don’t believe so.”
TUBERVILLE: “Anybody in the CDC, nobody? Did you remove—once you got into office, was anybody removed, fired?”
MONAREZ: “No one was removed.”
TUBERVILLE: “[Did anyone change] positions?”
MONAREZ: “There were no political appointees that I changed positions.”
TUBERVILLE: “Okay. Did you refuse to update the CDC website despite being instructed to do so, including things from the CDC website like ‘birthing people, health equity,’ a policy that came down from the President of the United States? Did you refuse to do that?”
MONAREZ: “No.”
TUBERVILLE: “Not whatsoever?”
MONAREZ: “I did not refuse to do that.”
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP and Aging Committees.
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