More than 1,000 current and former employees of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have publicly called for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign, arguing that his actions have “compromised the health of this nation.” The letter, organized by Save HHS and published Wednesday, follows an earlier appeal sent after the Aug. 8 shooting at CDC headquarters. Since that initial appeal on Aug. 20, the broader list of signers has grown to 6,370, including 887 with HHS ties, according to organizers.
The authors say Kennedy has undermined scientific integrity and public confidence by ousting or prompting the departures of senior CDC officials and by elevating figures they describe as ideological and outside consensus. They cite the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez and subsequent resignations by senior leaders as emblematic of a politicized tilt inside the nation’s premier public-health agency.
In the new letter, signers allege that Kennedy has “rescinded” FDA emergency use authorizations for COVID-19 vaccines without disclosing supporting data; disparaged the American Academy of Pediatrics for recommending pediatric vaccination; refused briefings from CDC experts on vaccine-preventable diseases; and appointed critics of mRNA vaccines to influential advisory roles. They argue those moves run counter to the President’s executive order on “Restoring Gold Standard Science in America.”
The employees also connect their concerns to the climate surrounding the Aug. 8 CDC attack in Atlanta, saying politicized rhetoric has turned public-health workers into targets. Independent statements released after the shooting described hundreds of rounds fired and the death of a responding police officer, while noting no CDC staff were physically injured.
HHS, responding last month to questions about the earlier appeal, said attempts to link the secretary’s reforms to the CDC shooting were efforts to “politicize a tragedy,” and asserted the secretary’s vision has public support. Save HHS says Kennedy has not personally responded.
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