Gov. Gavin Newsom will announce today that California has hired two former CDC leaders who publicly accused the Trump administration of abandoning scientific standards. Smart move — they’ll have an important platform to address Bob Kennedy’s insanity, and Newsom looks strategic. Via the New York Times:
One is Susan Monarez, a former director of the C.D.C., who was fired by the White House in late August after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tried to remove her from her position and she resisted leaving. The other is Dr. Debra Houry, a former chief medical officer of the C.D.C., who quit partly in protest over the firing of Dr. Monarez.
Both will now serve as consultants for the California Department of Public Health.
Mr. Newsom has been working to elevate his national profile as a leading Democratic voice against President Trump, and to position himself for a possible 2028 presidential run. He has tried to make California a Democratic bulwark on the West Coast, and has repeatedly countered moves by the Trump administration.
Dr. Monarez and Dr. Houry gave notable testimony at a tense Senate hearing in September in which Dr. Monarez said she had refused Mr. Kennedy’s demands that she fire top scientists at the agency and approve new vaccine recommendations before seeing evidence to support them.