More than 1,000 HHS workers demand Kennedy resignation over CDC director firing and agency changes

Bernie Sanders on calling on RFK Jr. to resign as health secretary: ‘We’ve got to rally the American people’

Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, tells Fox News Digital that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts are leading to "a real public health crisis for America."

More than 1,000 current and former employees of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) signed a letter calling on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign on Wednesday.

The employees cited Kennedy's recent ousting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Susan Monarez. They also accused Kennedy of appointing "political ideologues" to positions of authority.

"We believe health policy should be based in 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 says.

"Should he decline to resign, we call upon the President and U.S. Congress to appoint a new Secretary of Health and Human Services, one whose qualifications and experience ensure that health policy is informed by independent and unbiased peer-reviewed science. We expect those in leadership to act when the health of Americans is at stake," the letter continues.

CDC DIRECTOR SUSAN MONAREZ REFUSES TO BE FIRED AS OTHER OFFICIALS CALL IT QUITS

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is facing mass calls for his resignation from current and former HHS employees. (Getty Images)

HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

The letter comes just days after Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also called on Kennedy to resign, citing his actions at the CDC. The Trump administration announced the removal of Monarez last week, less than a month after she was confirmed, after she refused Kennedy's directives to adopt new limitations on the availability of some vaccines, including for approvals for COVID-19 vaccines.

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Four other senior CDC officials resigned in protest after Monarez's ouster, pointing, in part, to anti-vaccine policies pushed by Kennedy. Hundreds of workers at the agency also walked out of the CDC's headquarters in Atlanta in support of their former colleagues.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called for Kennedy to resign earlier this week. (Joe Maher)

Sanders wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times that Kennedy is "endangering the health of the American people now and into the future," and accused the secretary of firing Monarez because she refused "to act as a rubber stamp for his dangerous policies."

"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.

"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."

The Trump administration has defended Monarez's ouster, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying Thursday that the president has the "authority to fire those who are not aligned with his mission."

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"The president and Secretary Kennedy are committed to restoring trust and transparency and credibility to the CDC by ensuring their leadership and their decisions are more public-facing, more accountable, strengthening our public health system and restoring it to its core mission of protecting Americans from communicable diseases, investing in innovation to prevent, detect and respond to future threats," Leavitt told reporters.

Fox News' Landon Mion contributed to this report

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to [email protected], or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.