Sen. Bernie Sanders is demanding that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. resign. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
"Despite the overwhelming opposition of the medical community, Secretary Kennedy has continued his longstanding crusade against vaccines and his advocacy of conspiracy theories that have been rejected repeatedly by scientific experts," Sanders wrote in the piece published Saturday.
"It is absurd to have to say this in 2025, but vaccines are safe and effective," he added. "That, of course, is not just my view. Far more important, it is the overwhelming consensus of the medical and scientific communities."
Sanders also noted that vaccines for diseases like polio and COVID-19 have saved hundreds of millions of lives around the world.
Sanders, the ranking member of the Senate's health committee, opposed Kennedy's confirmation earlier this year. The secretary was sworn in back in February. Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill was selected to be the acting director of the CDC after Monarez's termination.
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The Trump administration announced the removal of CDC Director Susan Monarez earlier this week. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
"The danger here is that diseases that have been virtually wiped out because of safe and effective vaccines will resurface and cause enormous harm," Sanders wrote, stressing that the U.S. needs to be better prepared in the case of another pandemic.
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"Secretary Kennedy is putting Americans’ lives in danger, and he must resign," Sanders wrote. "In his place, President Trump must listen to doctors and scientists and nominate a health secretary and a C.D.C. director who will protect the health and well-being of the American people, not carry out dangerous policies based on conspiracy theories."
Fox News Digital reached out to HHS for comment.
Reuters contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sen-bernie-sanders-calls-rfk-jr-resign-following-departure-cdc-officials