STAT+: Trump’s pick to run the CDC walks a fine line on RFK Jr. at Senate hearing

WASHINGTON — There seemed to be one question on the minds of many senators grilling Susan Monarez, President Trump’s pick to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at a hearing on Wednesday: If confirmed, would she stand up to her boss, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.?

Yet, from questions on cuts to the CDC’s smoking and health office to fluoride in drinking water to the reconstitution of a panel of federal vaccine advisers, Monarez refused to outright express disagreement with Kennedy.

“If I’m confirmed as CDC director, I will make sure that I’m focused on the mission at hand at CDC, but also as supportive as I can be to the secretary’s goals of making America healthier again,” Monarez told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee at one point. 

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