Over 1,000 HHS Employees Call for RFK Jr. Resignation After CDC Director Ousted

More than 1,000 current and former employees of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have called for the resignation of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., citing concerns that his leadership is endangering public health and destabilizing the federal healthcare system. The staff's revolt intensified following Kennedy's dismissal of CDC Director Susan Monarez and other senior officials, actions they attribute to his longstanding vaccine skepticism and politicization of health policy. The employees accuse Kennedy of replacing career health experts with political ideologues, defunding critical vaccine research, and promoting unscientific theories, which they argue puts Americans' health at risk regardless of political affiliation. They have urged President Donald Trump and Congress to appoint a new HHS secretary committed to evidence-based, peer-reviewed science if Kennedy refuses to resign. The letter also highlighted Kennedy's lack of response to earlier requests for protection of staff following a deadly shooting at the CDC headquarters. HHS communications defended the agency amid these controversies, while the internal dissent underscores deep divisions within the department under Kennedy's tenure.