Susan Monarez (Video image)
WASHINGTON D.C. - The recently fired director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to testify before the U.S. Senate next week.
What we know:
Dr. Susan Monarez is listed as a witness for a Senate committee hearing titled "Restoring Trust Through Radical Transparency: Reviewing Recent Events at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Implications for Children’s Health." The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 17.
Monarez will testify alongside Dr. Debra Houry, who served as the CDC’s chief medical officer and deputy director for program and science until she resigned in protest over Monarez’s firing.
The backstory:
Monarez was appointed to the position in June by President Donald Trump. She was the first CDC director to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate after a law was passed requiring legislative review of the role.
Her departure was announced in August on the Department of Homeland Security’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter. She was the shortest-serving CDC director in history. Attorneys for Monarez say she was targeted for resisting unscientific directives pushed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Multiple CDC staffers resigned following her firing, and others staged a walkout in protest.
What's next:
Trump appointed Jim O’Neill, currently the deputy secretary of HHS, as interim leader of the CDC.
The Source: Information in this article came from a schedule of committee meetings and past FOX 5 reporting.