SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Two former senior officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including one fired by the Trump administration, will join California as public health consultants, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday.
Susan Monarez was fired as the CDC’s director and Dr. Debra Houry resigned as the agency’s chief medical officer and deputy director over disputes about changes at the agency. The two will work with California’s public health department to help build trust in “science-driven decision-making,” Newsom’s office said.
“We’re not just wringing our hands right 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 policy, and Newsom has amped up his criticisms of President Donald Trump and challenged the Republican’s policies in court. The governor’s final term ends in just over a year, and he’s gearing up for a possible presidential run in 2028.
California joined Washington and Oregon – two other states with Democratic governors – to launch an alliance in September to establish their own public health guidance 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 prioritizing his national political ambitions over the state.
“California has serious problems, and we need serious solutions from a serious leader,” Strickland said in a statement.
The White House and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to emails seeking comment on the Monarez and Houry hirings.
Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have repeated falsehoods about vaccines, and the administration has given health recommendations this year that experts say were not backed by science.
Trump in September urged pregnant women not to take Tylenol, saying it could pose a risk of autism to their babies, remarks medical experts said were irresponsible. The CDC website was changed last month to contradict the longtime scientific conclusion that vaccines do not cause autism. A federal vaccine advisory panel voted earlier this month to reverse decades-old guidance recommending that all U.S. babies get immunized against the liver infection hepatitis B on the day they’re born. The vaccine is credited with preventing thousands of illnesses.
Monarez, a former director of a federal biomedical research agency, was named acting director of the CDC in January. Trump later nominated her to serve as director. She was confirmed by the Senate in July, making her the first nonphysician to serve in the role. But she was fired by the Trump administration in August after less than a month in the post.
Kennedy has said Monarez was fired after she told him she was untrustworthy. But Monarez said that was false in congressional testimony and that she was fired after refusing to endorse new vaccine recommendations that weren’t backed by science.
Monarez, in her new role, will advise California on advancing health technologies, state officials said at the news conference.
“California is leading the way to no longer sit on the sidelines and hope for a better future,” Monarez said. “California is investing and innovating now to build the public health systems that will protect lives, strengthen communities and create a future in which all Californians can thrive.”
Houry, who spent more than a decade at the CDC, was among a handful of top officials at the agency who resigned around the time Monarez was fired. Houry said in August she was concerned about the rise of vaccine misinformation during the Trump administration, as well as planned budget cuts, reorganization and firings at the CDC.
Houry, who will serve as a regional and global public health adviser as part of the California initiative, said the effort will “serve as a model for how states can lead together in an era of shifting federal priorities, constrained resources and evolving health threats.”
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Associated Press writer Trân Nguyễn contributed.
