More than 1,000 HHS workers demand RFK Jr.'s resignation in new letter
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
President Trump (R) listens as Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at an event on "Making Health Technology Great Again" at the White House on July 30. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
More than 1,000 current and former federal health workers called for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s resignation Wednesday, warning he "continues to endanger the nation's health."
Why it matters: The demand is the latest evidence of a growing staff revolt against Kennedy, whose tenure has coincided with upheaval at the department that oversees the federal government's vast public health infrastructure.
- Kennedy ousted Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Susan Monarez late last month. Four senior leaders at the agency resigned in protest of his leadership around the same time.
- He has since installed Silicon Valley investor Jim O'Neill, who has advocated for unproven COVID treatments, as acting CDC director.
What they're saying: "We warn the President, Congress, and the Public that Secretary Kennedy's actions are compromising the health of this nation, and we demand Secretary Kennedy's resignation," the health workers wrote in a letter addressed to Kennedy and members of Congress.
- And if he declines to resign, the letter stated, President Trump and lawmakers should appoint a new secretary "whose qualifications and experience ensure that health policy is informed by independent and unbiased peer-reviewed science."
The other side: HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon said in a statement provided to Axios that "Secretary Kennedy has been clear: the CDC has been broken for a long time."
- "Restoring it as the world's most trusted guardian of public health will take sustained reform and more personnel changes," Nixon's statement continued. "From his first day in office, he pledged to check his assumptions at the door—and he asked every HHS colleague to do the same."
- Kennedy wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Tuesday that his changes are restoring trust in the CDC that was lost during the COVID pandemic.
- "Most CDC rank-and-file staff are honest public servants. Under this renewed mission, they can do their jobs as scientists without bowing to politics," Kennedy wrote.
Catch up quickly: In a separate letter shared last month, federal workers implored Kennedy to cease sharing "inaccurate health information," affirm the CDC's non-partisan and scientific integrity and guarantee the safety of the HHS workforce.
- The letter followed an attack targeting the CDC's Atlanta headquarters that killed a police officer.
- The gunman had reportedly blamed the COVID vaccine for his own health issues.
- HHS, following that letter, said "[a]ny attempt to conflate widely supported public health reforms with the violence of a suicidal mass shooter is an attempt to politicize a tragedy."
Zoom out: Nine former CDC directors also warned about increasing threats to public health from the Trump administration in a Monday New York Times guest essay.
- They said that the firing of Monarez and the departure of other agency leaders will make it "far more difficult" for the CDC to do its job.
- "During our respective C.D.C. tenures, we did not always agree with our leaders, but they never gave us reason to doubt that they would rely on data-driven insights for our protection, or that they would support public health workers," they wrote.
Go deeper: What to know about Jim O'Neill, new acting CDC director
Editors' note: This story has been updated with a statement from the HHS.
