SACRAMENTO, California. — Two former senior CDC officials, including one fired by the Trump administrationwill join California as public health advisers, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday.
Susan Monares was fired as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Dr. Debra Khoury resigned as chief medical officer and deputy director amid controversy over changes in the agency. The two will work with the California Department of Public Health to help build trust in “science-based decision making,” Newsom's office said.
“We're not just wringing our hands now—we're fighting back,” Newsom said at a news conference. “This is a substantive response to what is not happening in Washington.”
California has increasingly positioned itself as a counterweight to federal health care policies, and Newsom has stepped up his criticism of President Donald Trump and challenged Republican policies in court. The governor's last term ends in just over a year and he is preparing for a new term. possible presidential race in 2028.
California joined Washington and Oregon, two other states with Democratic governors, to create an alliance in September to develop its own public health guidelines and vaccine recommendations as the Trump administration makes sweeping changes to vaccine and health policy.
California state Sen. Tony Strickland, a Republican, said the initiative announced Monday is an example of Newsom putting his national political ambitions ahead of state interests.
“California has serious problems and we need serious solutions from serious leadership,” Strickland said in a statement.
The White House and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to emails seeking comment on the appointments of Monares and Uri.
Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have repeatedly lied about vaccines, and the administration this year made public health recommendations that experts said were not backed by science.
Trump encouraged pregnant women in September don't take Tylenolsaying it could put their children at risk of autism, which medical experts said was irresponsible. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the site has been changed last month to overturn the long-standing scientific finding that vaccines do not cause autism. Federal Vaccine Advisory Group voted earlier this month overturn decades-old recommendations that recommended that all U.S. children be immunized against hepatitis B, which causes a liver infection, on the day they are born. The vaccine is believed to have prevented thousands of diseases.
Monaresformer director of the federal Biomedical Research Agency, was named acting director of the CDC in January. Trump later appointed her to the post of director. She was confirmed by the Senate in July, making her the first non-physician to hold the position. But she was fired by the Trump administration in August after less than a month in office.
Kennedy said Monares was fired after she told him she was untrustworthy. But Monares said it was a lie in congressional testimony and that she was fired after refusing to endorse new vaccine recommendations that were not backed by science.
Monares, in his new role, will advise California on health technology development, state officials said at a news conference.
“California is leading the way to no longer sit on the sidelines and hope for a better future,” Monares said. “California is now investing and innovating to build public health systems that will protect lives, strengthen communities, and create a future in which all Californians can thrive.”
Khoury, who worked for more than a decade at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was among a handful of senior agency officials who resigned around the time Monares was fired. In August, Khoury said she was concerned about the rise in vaccine misinformation under the Trump administration, as well as planned budget cuts, reorganizations and layoffs at the CDC.
Khoury, who will serve as a regional and global public health advisor to the California Initiative, said the initiative “will serve as a model for how states can lead together in an era of shifting federal priorities, limited resources and evolving health threats.”
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Associated Press writer Tran Nguyen contributed.
