US Sen. Lisa Murkowski is once again carving out a solitary path in Washington, this time over the sudden firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez. While most Republican leaders are echoing the White House’s call for “radical transparency” at the troubled agency, Murkowski instead suggested the ouster was proof that “politics are taking precedence over policy.”
“The firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez just a month after her confirmation, along with the departure of other high-level disease experts the day after her termination, raises considerable questions about what is happening within the agency,” Murkowski said. “Americans must be able to fully trust that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rigorously adheres to science-based and data-driven principles when issuing policy directives.”
But Murkowski’s analysis pointedly ignored the rationale provided by both the White House and Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican and medical doctor who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Cassidy, a physician and the first to lead HELP, has embraced the administration’s pledge to overhaul the CDC with accountability and transparency.
“The President and Secretary are right. We need radical transparency. We need to protect the health of our children. The two go together,” Cassidy said this week. “I am committed to the President’s vision, which is why the HELP Committee will conduct oversight.”
The president’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated the same message: “The President and Secretary Kennedy are committed to restoring trust and transparency and credibility to the CDC … We’re going to make sure that folks that are in positions of leadership there are aligned with that mission.”
Murkowski interpreted it her own way. She struck a discordant tone, suggesting political interference but offering no specific evidence. While aligning herself with Cassidy’s call for oversight, she stopped short of embracing either the White House’s stated mission or Cassidy’s endorsement of it.
Her remarks underscore a familiar pattern: Murkowski frequently distances herself from both her party and the Trump Administration, always seeing the worst in all-things-Trump, often to the frustration of colleagues who see her equivocation as muddying the message at a time when Republicans are seeking clarity and strength on public health reform.
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