In wake of CDC shooting, hundreds of HHS staffers call for RFK to stop villainizing public health agencies

Several hundred current and former Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) employees have signed on to an open letter criticizing Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for “dangerous and deceitful statements and actions” they say villainize public health workers and contributed to the Aug. 8 attack on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC's) headquarters.

The letter (PDF) seeks commitments for the nation’s top health official to “cease and publicly disavow” the spread of false claims around vaccines, infectious disease transmission and public health institutions he had previously described as “a cesspool of corruption.” It asks him to affirm that the CDC’s work “is rooted in scientific, non-partisan evidence” and take steps to protect HHS workers from physical harm.

An accompanying press release also pointed to RFK Jr.’s “delayed and cursory response” to the shooting itself. The secretary did not publicly or internally address the attack until the following day and toured the headquarters three days later. 

The HHS, in a statement, pointed to the visit and said RFK Jr. is "standing firmly with CDC employees [and] ensuring their safety and well-being remain a top priority." 

As of its publication Wednesday morning, the letter, addressed to members of Congress and RFK Jr., had more than 750 signatories from workers across HHS’ subagencies, though the webpage where it is hosted, SaveHHS.org, encourages more workers to join.

Included among these are former CDC leadership: Anne Schuchat, M.D., formerly principal deputy director; Tom Simon, Ph.D., former senior director for scientific programs in the Division of Violence Prevention; Jim Mercy, Ph.D., former director of the Division of Violence Prevention; and Jay Butler, M.D., former deputy director for infectious diseases.

Numerous signatures on the list are anonymous, an option encouraged by the letter’s organizers for current employees who “may have less protections” from retaliation due to their role or for those who are concerned for their personal safety.

“We are all broken-hearted, not only for our CDC colleagues, but for all Americans. If the very people that are supposed to be protecting Americans are not safe, then no American is safe,” Schuchat said in a statement. “An attack on a U.S. government agency should be a moment in time when we come together. Instead, Secretary Kennedy continues to spread misinformation at the risk of American lives.”

The letter builds on similar comments from public health figures that followed this month’s shooting, in which numerous bullets were fired at CDC buildings and employees sheltered in place. DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose, 33, was killed responding to the attack, and another police officer was injured.

The shooter, Patrick Joseph White, who died at the scene, was armed with five guns—including at least one long gun—and had reportedly tried to enter the campus but was turned away. Statements to police and press from White’s father and neighbors described his mental distress and belief that he and others were sickened by COVID-19 vaccines.

CDC Director Susan Monarez, Ph.D., said later that evening she was “heartbroken” and that the agency’s “top priority is the safety and well-being of everyone at CDC.” She presided over an internal group call the following day in which employees reportedly sought safety assurances and raised their concerns over misinformation’s role in the attack. Monarez also joined RFK Jr.’s in-person tour of the attack site and led an all-hands presentation the following day which, per reports and social media postings, was poorly received by staff.

Still, Wednesday’s letter focused its criticisms on RFK Jr., whom its writers said “is complicit in dismantling America’s public health infrastructure and endangering the nation’s health by repeatedly spreading inaccurate health information."

Several such actions and statements are listed and include the cancellation of $500 million in contracts for mRNA vaccines he said “failed to protect effectively” and the remaking of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with “inadequately vetted members who lack appropriate expertise and whose recommendations have been driven by ideology rather than science.”

The letter also points to RFK Jr.’s comments undercutting the safety and effectiveness of measles vaccines during this year’s outbreak, overseeing the termination of numerous CDC workers and suggestions that childhood vaccines could be linked to autism.

“These dangerous and deceitful statements and actions have contributed to the harassment and violence experienced by CDC staff,” the letter reads.

The signatories ask RFK Jr. to respond to their requests to shift his rhetoric and guarantee workforce safety by Sept. 2. The latter point, they said, “should include emergency procedures and alerts that are fully functional for all workers and taking vigorous action to remove high-profile online material targeting the federal workforce such as the widely seen ‘DEI watchlists.’”

In response to a request for comment on the letter, the HHS said the secretary's work and broader vision for the agency has public support. 

"Any attempt to conflate widely supported public health reforms with the violence of a suicidal mass shooter is an attempt to politicize a tragedy," the department said.

Fierce Healthcare has also reached out to the letter’s organizers for additional information and comment.