The White House removed Trump’s original candidate for CDC director, Dr. Dave Weldon, when he questioned vaccinations and Susan Monarez.
President Donald Trump has named Susan Monarez as his new nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Monarez, a scientist whose previous research focused on using artificial intelligence to improve health, has already been serving as acting director.
On Monday, Trump made the announcement via Truth Social. “Dr. Monarez has decades of experience championing innovation, transparency, and strong public health systems,” he stated.
Trump also stated that Monarez will collaborate closely with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
As acting director of the CDC, Monarez carried out White House directives to remove any references to “gender ideology” from the agency’s website.
Last month, a judge ordered the CDC to restore the deleted webpages. Many pages on its website, including one about HIV prevention, have now been topped with a statement that reads, in part, “Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from the immutable biological reality that there are two sexes, male and female.”
The White House abruptly withdrew Trump’s first nominee, Dr. Dave Weldon, a Republican former congressman from Florida, just three weeks before his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Labor, Education, and Pensions Committee.
Weldon had a history of questioning vaccine safety, particularly the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, which he falsely linked to autism.
Monarez will take over as the United States grapples with a growing measles outbreak in Texas and two other states, which has claimed the lives of two adults and one child.
Prior to joining the CDC, Monarez served as deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, a biomedical innovation research funding agency.
It will be the first time a CDC director has to go through the Senate confirmation process, and she will undoubtedly be questioned about her vaccine policies.
The hearing date had not been set by Monday afternoon.
