The Senate committee that oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will hold a hearing next week with testimony from former CDC Director Susan Monarez, who was abruptly fired by the Trump administration last month after she refused to resign under pressure.
The hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, chaired by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., will take place Sept. 17 and focus on oversight of the CDC. Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, who resigned from her role at the agency after Monarez’s dismissal by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is also expected to testify, according to a committee spokesperson.
“To protect children’s health, Americans need to know what has happened and is happening at the CDC,” Cassidy said in a statement Tuesday night announcing the hearing. “They need to be reassured that their child’s health is given priority. Radical transparency is the only way to do that.”
The hearing will come one day before the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to convene, on Sept. 18.
Shortly after Monarez’s ouster, Cassidy cautioned the vaccine advisory panel against meeting until significant oversight has been conducted.
“If the meeting proceeds, any recommendations made should be rejected as lacking legitimacy given the seriousness of the allegations and the current turmoil in CDC leadership.” Cassidy said in a statement last month.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
