The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, long considered the nation's -- if not the world's -- premier public health organization, is mired in a crisis that not only threatens Americans' health but also its very survival as a leading public health institution.
The degree of this crisis was on full display during Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s testimony Thursday before the U.S. Senate.
In the hearing, Kennedy openly criticized CDC professionals' response to the COVID-19 pandemic, saying "the people at CDC who oversaw that process, who put masks on our children, who closed our schools, are the people who will be leaving."
Kennedy's hearing came on the heels of a contentious week in which Kennedy fired the CDC's director, Susan Monarez, spurring 12 members of the Senate Finance Committee -- including 11 Democrats and independent Bernie Sanders -- to call on Kennedy to resign from his position.
At least four top CDC leaders resigned following Monarez's ouster, citing pressure from Kennedy to depart from recommendations based on sound scientific evidence.
