Ex-CDC official describes "pure chaos" as RFK Jr. sought to transform agency

Pure chaos erupted at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attempted to overhaul its policies and personnel, according to a former top official. Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC's former chief medical officer, resigned last summer alongside three other officials, citing deep concerns about the agency's direction under Kennedy.

In her first interview since a trove of emails she provided to the Senate Health Committee were released, Houry described the turmoil within the agency. She highlighted the removal of experts from a key vaccine advisory panel on June 9, 2025, and Kennedy's refusal to accept briefings on the measles epidemic from the agency's top medical official. Houry also pointed to Kennedy's spread of misinformation about the measles vaccine and his general tendency to dismiss facts that contradicted his agenda.

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Science doesn't change based on who is in office, and so when these things were happening, I knew this was different than before.

"Science doesn't change based on who is in office, and so when these things were happening, I knew this was different than before," Houry stated. She also noted a significant departure from previous administrations, as she was not briefed by the secretary. "When we had many requests coming from political appointees on things that had happened 30 years ago that didn't really need to be relitigated at a taxpayer expense, I became very concerned that data, science and facts would not be enough," she added.

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When we had many requests coming from political appointees on things that had happened 30 years ago that didn't really need to be relitigated at a taxpayer expense, I became very concerned that data, science and facts would not be enough.

Houry, who spent 11 years at the CDC after a career as an ER doctor, expressed alarm over the backgrounds of many individuals advising Kennedy. "I want to be clear," she said, "It's certainly OK to have different perspectives and different expertise, but then you want to make sure that the scientists and the experts are also being heard and part of those decisions, and we weren't."

CBS News has reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services for comment but has not yet received a response. The June 9, 2025, decision to remove all 17 members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) and replace them with Kennedy's allies, some with ties to vaccine lawsuits, bypassed the usual process. The reconstituted panel has met three times, most recently in December, and voted to remove thimerosal from flu vaccines and end the universal birth dose recommendation for Hepatitis B.

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It's certainly OK to have different perspectives and different expertise, but then you want to make sure that the scientists and the experts are also being heard and part of those decisions, and we weren't.