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Susan Monarez, Ph.D., is one step closer to becoming director of the CDC following today’s vote by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to advance her nomination to a final confirmation vote in the U.S. Senate.
If confirmed, Monarez would be the first director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to be voted on by the Senate. The CDC director previously was an appointed position, CNN reported.
President Donald Trump nominated Monarez after the White House abruptly withdrew its nomination of Dr. Dave Weldon to lead the agency. Weldon failed to secure enough votes because of comments he made suggesting a link between autism and vaccines, Politico reported.
Monarez is poised to become the first nonphysician to lead the CDC in more than 50 years. She earned a doctorate in microbiology and immunology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
She served as acting director of the CDC from Jan. 23 — just days after Trump’s second term began — until late March, when Trump nominated her to lead the agency.
The agency has been without a director for several months.
Monarez was previously deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services created by the Biden administration to accelerate “high-risk, high-reward” biomedical research.
ARPA-H is modeled after the U.S. military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Monarez also previously held positions with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Monarez has RFK Jr.’s support, but some MAHA supporters are skeptical
Following Monarez’s nomination in March, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a post on X that he “handpicked Susan for this job because she is a longtime champion of MAHA values, and a caring, compassionate and brilliant microbiologist and a tech wizard who will reorient CDC toward public health and gold-standard science.”
But her nomination was met with criticism by some MAHA supporters and health freedom advocates, who cited her past work with biosecurity agencies and her previous endorsement of the COVID-19 vaccines.
The CDC is responsible for making vaccine recommendations for Americans. It sets the increasingly controversial childhood immunization schedule, which most physicians use to determine which vaccines a child needs and which schools use to set vaccine mandates.
According to an independent poll conducted late last month, 60% of parents with young children are in favor of reviewing the CDC’s vaccine recommendations for children.
At the CDC, Monarez will oversee an annual core discretionary budget of $9.7 billion and will report to Kennedy.
During her confirmation hearing before the Senate committee last month, Monarez affirmed her belief that “vaccines save lives,” and pledged to prioritize vaccine availability. She said mRNA vaccines are “safe and with demonstrated efficacy,” and that she was unaware of any confirmed scientific link between vaccines and autism.
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She also avoided directly answering questions from several Democratic senators about whether she disagreed with any of Kennedy’s decisions while in office.
Before today’s vote, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) voiced strong support for Monarez, saying she was prepared to make decisions rooted in science, to modernize and reform the agency, and to restore trust in public health.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) said, “President Trump and Secretary Kennedy are working overtime to undermine the vital mission of the CDC.” He added, “Unfortunately, Dr. Monarez — who has served as Trump’s acting CDC director — has done nothing to stand in the way.”
Monarez’s final confirmation vote in the full Senate is not yet scheduled.
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