RFK Jr. Is ‘Compromising the Health of This Nation,’ Say 1,000+ Staffers Demanding Resignation
By Julia Conley | Common Dreams on Comments Off on RFK Jr. Is ‘Compromising the Health of This Nation,’ Say 1,000+ Staffers Demanding Resignation
“Under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership,” said the employees, “HHS policies are placing the health of all Americans at risk, regardless of their politics.”
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Image-Britannica
After a deadline passed for the nation’s top health official to pledge to protect the federal public health workforce, more than 1,000 current and former employees of the US Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday that “it’s time for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign” from his position leading the agency.
The employees addressed their letter to Kennedy, President Donald Trump’s health and human services secretary, as well as members of Congress, warning that since HHS staffers spoke out in a previous letter last month about a shooting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Kennedy has continued “to endanger the nation’s health.”
The number of signatories on the initial correspondence has grown to more than 6,800 since 750 employees signed it in August, with federal workers endorsing the concerns it raised about how Kennedy is “sowing public mistrust” and spreading misinformation about immunizations, including the measles vaccine and mRNA vaccines like the Covid-19 shot that’s credited with saving millions of lives.
“Secretary Kennedy did not respond to the letter, and HHS released a statement accusing us of politicizing a tragedy,” wrote the HHS workers on Wednesday. “To be clear, the HHS workforce is nonpartisan, implementing science-based policies developed under both Republican and Democratic administrations. We believe health policy should be based on strong, evidence-based principles rather than partisan politics. But under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, HHS policies are placing the health of all Americans at risk, regardless of their politics.”
The letter listed ways in which Kennedy has doubled down on harming the nation’s public health infrastructure since a gunman fired more than 500 rounds of ammunition into six buildings on the CDC’s main campus in Atlanta, killing a police officer before he turned the gun on himself. The shooter was reportedly motivated by his “discontent” with Covid-19 vaccines and believed he and others had been injured by the immunization.
Since then, Kennedy’s employees said, the secretary has:
Facilitated the firing of Dr. Susan Monarez, the Senate-confirmed CDC director, after reportedly clashing with her on vaccine science;
Caused the resignations of public health officials at the CDC;
Appointed idealogues “who pose as scientific experts and manipulate data to fit predetermined conclusions,” including mRNA vaccine opponent Retsef Levi, the leader of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ Covid-19 work group, and ACIP member Robert Malone, who “has made multiple inaccurate claims regarding Covid-19 and measles”;
Refused to be briefed on vaccine-preventable diseases by CDC experts;
Disparaged the American Academy of Pediatrics for recommending the Covid-19 vaccine for children; and
Made “ongoing verbal attacks” on the HHS workforce, including by stating, “Trusting experts is not a feature of either a science or democracy.”
The workers noted that they “swore an oath to support and defend the United States Constitution and to serve the American people” and are bound to “speak out when the Constitution is violated and the American people are put at risk.”
“Thus, we warn the president, Congress, and the public that Secretary Kennedy’s actions are compromising the health of this nation, and we demand Secretary Kennedy’s resignation,” said the HHS employees.
Should Kennedy refuse to resign, the workers wrote, the president and Congress must appoint a new secretary of health and human services—”one whose qualifications and experience ensure that health policy is informed by independent and unbiased peer-reviewed science.”
“We expect those in leadership to act when the health of Americans is at stake,” said the employees.
Last week, US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote an op-ed in the The New York Times demanding Kennedy’s resignation, citing Monarez’ ouster and warning of the danger of Kennedy’s “advocacy of conspiracy theories that have been rejected repeatedly by scientific experts.”
“Covid is just the beginning,” said Sanders. “Mr. Kennedy’s next target may be the childhood immunization schedule, the list of recommended vaccines that children receive to protect them from diseases like measles, chickenpox, and polio.”
The signatories of Wednesday’s letter, who work at HHS agencies including the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration, the office of the secretary, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, noted that in addition to the named signers, anonymous employees endorsed the letter.
The signers “speak for countless others across HHS who share our concerns but who chose not to sign out of well-founded fear of retaliation and threats to personal safety,” reads the letter.
The signers also urged members of the public to join the push for Kennedy to resign or be removed, calling on them to use the 5 Calls platform to contact their elected representatives and demand Congress take action to “hold him accountable for his careless statements and actions that are endangering the health and safety of every American.”
