We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is
Endangering Every American's Health
By William Foege, William Roper, David Satcher, Jeffrey Koplan, Richard Besser, Tom Frieden, Anne Schuchat, Rochelle P. Walensky and Mandy K. Cohen
The authors previously led in the C.D.C., either as directors or acting directors under Republican and Democratic administrations.
New York Times, September 1, 2025
We have each had the honor and privilege of serving as director of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, either in a permanent or acting capacity, dating
back to 1977. Collectively, we spent more than 100 years working at the C.D.C., the
world’s pre-eminent public health agency. We served under multiple Republican
and Democratic administrations — every president from Jimmy Carter to Donald
Trump — alongside thousands of dedicated staff members who shared our
commitment to saving lives and improving health.
What Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has done to the
C.D.C. and to our nation’s public health system over the past several months —
culminating in his decision to fire Dr. Susan Monarez as C.D.C. director days ago —
is unlike anything we have ever seen at the agency, and unlike anything our
country has ever experienced.
Secretary Kennedy has fired thousands of federal health workers and severely
weakened programs designed to protect Americans from cancer, heart attacks,
strokes, lead poisoning, injury, violence and more. Amid the largest measles
outbreak in the United States in a generation, he’s focused on unproven
“treatments” while downplaying vaccines. He canceled investments in promising
medical research that will leave us ill prepared for future health emergencies. He
replaced experts on federal health advisory committees with unqualified
individuals who share his dangerous and unscientific views. He announced the end
of U.S. support for global vaccination programs that protect millions of children
and keep Americans safe, citing flawed research and making inaccurate
statements. And he championed federal legislation that will cause millions of
people with health insurance through Medicaid to lose their coverage. Firing Dr.
Monarez — which led to the resignations of top C.D.C. officials — adds considerable
fuel to this raging fire.
We are worried about the wide-ranging impact that all these decisions will have on
America's health security. Residents of rural communities and people with
disabilities will have even more limited access to health care. Families with low
incomes who rely most heavily on community health clinics and support from state
and local health departments will have fewer resources available to them. Children
risk losing access to lifesaving vaccines because of the cost.
This is unacceptable, and it should alarm every American, regardless of political
leanings.
C.D.C. is an agency under Health and Human Services. 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. We need only look to Operation
Warp Speed during the first Trump administration — which produced highly
effective and safe vaccines that saved millions of lives during the Covid-19
pandemic — as a shining example of what H.H.S. can accomplish when health and
science are at the forefront of its mission.
The current H.H.S. leadership, however, operates under a very different set of
rules. When Secretary Kennedy administered the oath of office to Dr. Monarez on
July 31, he called her “a public health expert with unimpeachable scientific
credentials.” But when she refused weeks later to rubber-stamp his dangerous and
unfounded vaccine recommendations or heed his demand to fire senior C.D.C. staff
members, he decided she was expendable.
These are not typical requests from a health secretary to a C.D.C. director. Not
even close. None of us would have agreed to the secretary’s demands, and we
applaud Dr. Monarez for standing up for the agency and the health of our
communities.
When the C.D.C. was created in 1946, the average life expectancy in the United
States was around 66 years. Today, it is more than 78 years. While medical
advances have helped, it is public health that has played the biggest role in
improving both the length and quality of life in our nation. The C.D.C. has led
efforts to eradicate smallpox, increase access to lifesaving vaccinations and
significantly reduce smoking rates. The agency is also on the front lines in
communities across the country, delivering crucial but often less visible wins —
such as containing an outbreak of H.I.V. cases in Scott County, Ind., or protecting
residents in East Palestine, Ohio, from toxic chemical exposure.
The C.D.C. is not perfect. What institution is? But over its history, regardless of
which party has controlled the White House or Congress, the agency has not
wavered from its mission. To those on the C.D.C. staff who continue to perform
their jobs heroically in the face of the excruciating circumstances, we offer our
sincere thanks and appreciation. Their ongoing dedication is a model for all of us.
But it’s clear that the agency is hurting badly. The loss of Dr. Monarez and other
top leaders will make it far more difficult for C.D.C. to do what it has done for about
80 years, to work around the clock to protect Americans from threats to their lives
and health.
We have a message for the rest of the nation as well: This is a time to rally to
protect the health of every American. Congress must exercise its oversight
authority over H.H.S. State and local governments must fill funding gaps where
they can. Philanthropy and the private sector must step up their community
investments. Medical groups must continue to stand up for science and truth.
Physicians must continue to support their patients with sound guidance and
empathy.
And each of us must do what public health does best, to look out for one another.
The men and women who have joined C.D.C. across generations have done so not
for prestige or power, but because they believe deeply in the call to service. They
deserve an H.H.S. secretary who stands up for health, supports science and has
their back. So, too, does our country.
Dr. William Foege served as director of the C.D.C. from 1977-1983. Dr. William Roper served as director of
the C.D.C. from 1990-1993. Dr. David Satcher served as director of the C.D.C. from 1993-1998. Dr. Jeffrey
Koplan served as director of the C.D.C. from 1998-2002. Dr. Richard Besser served as acting director of the
C.D.C. in 2009. Dr. Tom Frieden served as director of the C.D.C. from 2009-2017. Dr. Anne Schuchat served
as acting director of the C.D.C. in 2017 and 2018. Dr. Rochelle Walensky served as director of the C.D.C. from
2021-2023. Dr. Mandy Cohen served as director of the C.D.C. from 2023-2025.
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"There are two ways of lying, as there are two ways of deceiving customers. If the scale registers 15 ounces, you can say: 'It's a pound.' Your lie will remain relative to an invariable measure of the true. If customers check it, they can see that they are being robbed, and you know by how much you are robbing them: a truth remains as a judge between you. But if the demon induces you to tamper with the scale itself, it is "the criterion of the true" which is denatured, there is no longer any possible control. And little by little you will forget that you are cheating." Denis de Rougemont's "Love in the Western World," published January 1, 1956
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''
"There are two ways of lying, as there are two ways of deceiving customers. If the scale registers 15 ounces, you can say: 'It's a pound.' Your lie will remain relative to an invariable measure of the true. If customers check it, they can see that they are being robbed, and you know by how much you are robbing them: a truth remains as a judge between you. But if the demon induces you to tamper with the scale itself, it is "the criterion of the true" which is denatured, there is no longer any possible control. And little by little you will forget that you are cheating." Denis de Rougemont's "Love in the Western World," published January 1, 1956
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