Over 1,000 current and former employees of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services signed a letter demanding the resignation of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., claiming he is "endangering the nation's health."
"We believe health policy should be based on strong, evidence-based principles rather than partisan politics. But under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, HHS policies are placing the health of all Americans at risk, regardless of their politics," the letter stated.
The workers listed nine different actions they claim Kennedy did to "endanger the nation's health," including facilitating the firing of former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Susan Monarez, "refusing to be briefed by well-regarded CDC experts on vaccine-preventable diseases" and "disregarding the President’s Executive Order, 'Restoring Gold Standard Science in America,' which has called for transparent science, subject to unbiased peer-review, collaborative and interdisciplinary, and free from conflict of interest."
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Last month, federal workers asked Kennedy in a separate letter to stop "spreading inaccurate health information, affirm CDC’s scientific integrity, and guarantee the safety of the HHS workforce" following a targeted shooting at the CDC's headquarters in Atlanta.
The group claimed Kennedy didn't respond to their requests and instead released a statement accusing them of "politicizing."
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"To be clear, the HHS workforce is nonpartisan, implementing science-based policies developed under both Republican and Democratic administrations," the group of workers said in the new letter.
HHS employees said if Kennedy doesn't resign, then President Donald Trump and Congress should appoint a new leader of the department. The group has also implored other organizations to call for Kennedy's resignation.
Meanwhile, a coalition of over 60 health organizations — representing patients, consumers, workers, health care providers, and more — signed a letter addressed to President Trump urging him to fire Kennedy.
Many of the same organizations had signed a letter asking senators to reject Kennedy's nomination for the position.
"Since assuming office, Secretary Kennedy and HHS have taken a series of actions to sow vaccine mistrust and take away people’s access to vaccines, and imposed severe cuts that undermine Americans’ health and set back scientific progress and medical innovation," the letter stated.
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