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By Daniel Orton
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More than 1,000 current and former employees of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) called for Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign in an open letter released on Wednesday, citing what they said were actions that continue "to endanger the nation's health."
The letter capped weeks of turmoil at federal public health agencies after the ouster of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director, reported resignations by senior CDC officials, and a broader petition organized by Save HHS that the group said had drawn thousands of signers.
In a statement shared with Newsweek, HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon said, "Secretary Kennedy has been clear: the CDC has been broken for a long time. Restoring it as the world's most trusted guardian of public health will take sustained reform and more personnel changes."
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Why It Matters
Federal public health agencies set disease-prevention policy and manage vaccine recommendations that underpin routine immunization programs and responses to outbreaks. The letter said the secretary's personnel decisions and policy moves had eroded scientific integrity and threatened the safety of the HHS workforce, raising immediate questions about the capacity of the CDC and other agencies to carry out public-health missions.
What To Know
The letter asked Kennedy to resign and urged President Donald Trump and Congress to appoint a replacement should he decline.
The organizing group Save HHS said a related petition had grown to more than 6,000 total signatories, including 887 from HHS, since it launched last Friday.
The staff letter cited a series of actions, including the facilitation of the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez, the resignations of senior CDC leaders, the appointment of what the signees called "political ideologues" to influential public-health roles, and the rescission of COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorizations without transparent data.
The letter followed an August 8 attack at CDC headquarters in Atlanta that killed a police officer; earlier staff communications had urged the secretary to stop spreading "inaccurate health information" and to guarantee worker safety after that incident.
What People Are Saying
In the September 3 letter, the staffers wrote: "We warn the President, Congress, and the Public that Secretary Kennedy's actions are compromising the health of this nation, and we demand Secretary Kennedy's resignation."
HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon said: "From his first day in office, [Kennedy] pledged to check his assumptions at the door—and he asked every HHS colleague to do the same. That commitment to evidence-based science is why, in just seven months, he and the HHS team have accomplished more than any health secretary in history in the fight to end the chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again."
Kennedy defended his changes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, writing: "The American people no longer believe the CDC has their best interests at heart...The path forward is clear: Restore the CDC's focus on infectious disease, invest in innovation, and rebuild trust through integrity and transparency."
What Happens Next
Kennedy is scheduled to testify before the Senate Committee on Finance on Thursday, in a hearing on the administration's 2026 health-care agenda—a forum that could prompt congressional oversight or further calls for accountability.
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