California Hires CDC Officials Who Left Trump Administration

Susan Monarez and Dr. Debra Houry have been brought on to help launch a new initiative.

Dr. Debra Houry (L) and Susan Monarez in Washington on Sept. 17, 2025. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Two former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials have joined the California government to help launch a new initiative that provides an alternative to the federal government, officials announced on Dec. 15.

Susan Monarez and Dr. Debra Houry are helping start the Public Health Network Innovation Exchange, which officials say is an initiative that will provide evidence-based public health tools, science, and coordinated responses.

“By bringing on expert scientific leaders to partner in this launch, we’re strengthening collaboration and laying the groundwork for a modern public health infrastructure that will offer trust and stability in scientific data not just across California, but nationally and globally,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.

Monarez was nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the CDC. Trump fired her in August after she had a falling out with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy said that Monarez refused orders to fire CDC employees and to be open to accepting advice from the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee. Monarez said she was open to changes to federal vaccine recommendations, provided they were supported by evidence or science, but that Kennedy was not able to cite any.

The committee has since recommended changes to the childhood vaccine schedule, some of which were adopted by acting CDC Director Jim O'Neill. Other changes are possible.

Houry was one of several other top CDC officials who resigned shortly after Monarez’s termination. Houry has said she was motivated by the Department of Health and Human Services allegedly blocking the CDC from posting certain documents for public consumption.

Newsom’s office said that the new initiative “is a direct response to the federal dismantling of national disease prevention, protection, and tracking programs, the termination of life-saving health programs and erosion of evidence and science-based policies, and the withdrawal from the global public health community.”

Monarez said in a statement that “California has an extraordinary concentration of talent, technology, and investment, and this effort is about putting those strengths to work for the public good—modernizing how public health operates, accelerating innovation, and building a healthier, more resilient future for all Californians.”

Houry said in a statement that “California will advance practical, scalable solutions that strengthen public health within the state and across states—showing how states can modernize data, share capacity, and work together more efficiently, while remaining focused on protecting people and communities.”

The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a former CDC officer who is now a research physician at the University of Southern California and a frequent critic of Trump and Kennedy, wrote on X that California’s hiring of Monarez and Houry was “bizarre and blatantly political.” He said that there is already extensive health expertise within California.

The move came after California formed a health alliance with Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii to counter federal recommendations, as well as a separate alliance with 14 other governors.