Science vs. Politics: Inside the CDC Chief’s Impossible Decision
The reorganization in the highest levels of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention exposes a problem facing many career officials across all government agencies.
Should their loyalty be tied to the evidence of medical science or economic analysis and intelligence-related findings?
Or should they be presenting the truth that is in line with the Trump science conflict?
The tension was highlighted in the Thursday news conference when The White House explained the firing of CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez. Sources say Monarez butted heads with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine strategy and resisted demands to end the CDC leadership crisis.
"It it was president Trump vs science who was overwhelmingly elected in the 5th of November. The woman who was elected has never had an election in her entire life," said press secretary Karoline Leavitt. “If you can’t get on board with the president’s and secretary’s vision to restore our nation’s health, you may not have a place in this mission.”
Every president wants a certain amount of loyalty from his staff and to perform the duties of a democratically elected government. Conservatives have long believed liberal-leaning governments lack their policies’ support. But if any government views the world through one president’s eyes only, it also risks letting down the people it aim to help.
The CDC Under Pressure
Monarez’s past research and discoveries have been her claim to fame. So were the other top officials who resigned following her demotion. Monarez, the CDC chief ousted who was forced out, helped give the agency international acclaim with its powerful research, rigorous ethical codes, and clinical science breakthroughs, which have been vital in vaccination efforts that have saved many lives.
Kennedy’s ‘vision,’ for which Monarez and her staff have been accused of being against, is at the centre of the controversy. Kennedy is widely known as a vaccine sceptic. Kennedy has falsely asserted that the standard vaccines for children lack "gold-standard science." Kennedy was also picked as a presidential candidate who offered, in the beginning CDC chief resignation of Covid-19 outbreak, that reducing the testing schedule could aid in reducing the spread.
