Tim Kaine apologizes to ex-CDC director: 'I was wrong'

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) apologized to ousted Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Susan Monarez for questioning her "backbone" during her confirmation hearing in June.

“You got over the qualifications bar easily, but my worries about the direction of HHS [Health and Human Services] made me question you very significantly on your backbone, a trait that is not in long supply in this town. And then when I voted against your confirmation, I cited that as the reason,” Kaine said during a Wednesday hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

“Again, no concern about your qualifications. I had concern about your backbone, and I was wrong, and I apologize to you for being wrong,” he added. 

Back in June, Kaine questioned Monarez over the closure of the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health and the firing of its 120 full-time employees, and for "dramatic changes" that "gutted" the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) regulation of tobacco.

"It would seem like that would be something that would be a priority for the HHS secretary, and yet the CDC complete elimination of this office and the FDA dramatic curtailment of its office, I really have questions about not, not about the statement that you made in your testimony, nor about your qualifications," Kaine said at the time.

"I've got questions about your willingness to follow through on your values," he told Monarez.

The former CDC director responded that she was not responsible for the staffing changes and mentioned HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s support for eliminating chronic disease.

The White House removed Monarez in late August for not being “aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again," a move that she blamed on her refusal to rubber-stamp Kennedy's plans to change the childhood vaccine schedule.

Kaine and all other Democratic senators voted against Monarez's nomination.

Monarez detailed her falling out with Kennedy during her brief time atop the CDC during the hearing on Tuesday. Monarez has said she was fired after refusing to endorse vaccine recommendations without seeing the data.

Kennedy has claimed that he fired Monarez because she said she could not be trusted, a claim that she has repeatedly denied.

She told Kaine on Tuesday that she was directed not to speak with senators as tensions mounted between her and Kennedy over vaccine policy.

“We used to speak with the CDC director all the time during COVID and during other emergencies,” Kaine said. “Putting a gag order on a CDC director and directing her not to speak to those who have confirmed her and to whom she is responsible for oversight is a very serious matter.”