August 28, 2025

Continuing the Trump-Cook reporting from yesterday, Lisa Cook has filed her lawsuit:

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook is suing to keep her job on the board, which helps set interest rates, after President Donald Trump said he was removing her from her role earlier this week.

Cook’s lawsuit, filed Thursday morning in federal court in Washington, DC, asks for a judge to rule that Trump’s attempt to remove her is unlawful and that she remains an active member of the Federal Reserve.

A hearing on her request for a temporary restraining order has been scheduled for 10 a.m. ET on Friday in front of Judge Jia Cobb, an appointee of former President Joe Biden.

Cook’s lawsuit sets the stage for what could be a high-stakes legal battle with major implications for the Fed and the power of the presidency, even as Trump moves to consolidate his hold over parts of the government once considered sacrosanct and free from political influence.

Now, Lord knows I don’t want to make this a political blog – and get the comment section jammed up with whack-a-doodles – but I really want to mention my admiration for the one group of professionals that has stood up during the tumultuous times: the medical profession.

The American Academy of Pediatrics was the first:

The American Academy of Pediatrics released its updated recommendations for vaccines on Tuesday, including Covid-19 shots for infants and young children – a break from the current US for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations.

“It differs from recent recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the CDC, which was overhauled this year and replaced with individuals who have a history of spreading vaccine misinformation,” the AAP said in a news release.
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Tension between AAP and those driving federal health policy has been running high for months, particularly around changes to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP.
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Dr. Sean O’Leary, chair of the AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases, said at the time that AAP liaisons to ACIP did not participate in the meeting “because we view it as illegitimate.”

“What we heard in this meeting was really a false narrative that the current vaccine policies are flawed and that they need fixing,” he said.

On August 22, it was reported that they had company – the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists also endorsed a different policy than that of the CDC:

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists on Friday reaffirmed support for Covid-19 vaccination during pregnancy, becoming the second major professional medical association to break from current US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations this week.

“While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently removed its recommendation that pregnant and lactating individuals receive updated COVID-19 vaccines, ACOG’s recommendations have not changed,” according to the updated practice advisory. “The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists continues to recommend the use of updated COVID-19 vaccines in individuals contemplating pregnancy and in pregnant, recently pregnant, and lactating individuals.”

Now, four senior people have resigned from the CDC in support of Dr. Susan Monarez who, apparently, refused to follow instructions and fire them and has therefore been fired herself:

Monarez’s ouster, first reported by The Washington Post, burst into public view over several tumultuous hours Wednesday. Just weeks into her tenure as director, she had clashed with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy over vaccine policy and her refusal to fire several veteran CDC leaders, according to people familiar with the situation.
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Monarez’s ouster followed days of internal pressure led by Kennedy’s deputy chief of staff and close confidante, Stefanie Spear, according to two people familiar with the situation. It also came soon after Kennedy summoned Monarez to Washington and demanded that she fire Dr. Debra Houry, the agency’s chief medical officer and deputy director of programs and science; Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; and Dr. Dan Jernigan, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Monarez refused, angering Kennedy and triggering his move to remove her.

Monarez also clashed with Kennedy and his team over vaccine policies, including an impending announcement that could draw links between immunizations and autism, according to a person familiar with the situation.
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Shortly after Monarez’s departure was confirmed Wednesday, three other top CDC officials also announced that they were leaving. Dr. Debra Houry, the agency’s chief medical officer and deputy director of programs and science; Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; and Dr. Dan Jernigan, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, were agency veterans whom staffers said were well-liked and trusted.
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Dr. Jennifer Layden, director of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology, also left the CDC on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the situation who asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to share the information.

I did enjoy reading Dr. Demetre Daskalakis’ letter of resignation, posted on X.com

My resignation letter from CDC.

Dear Dr. Houry,

I am writing to formally resign from my position as Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), effective August 28, 2025, close of business. I am happy to stay on for two weeks to provide transition, if requested.

This decision has not come easily, as I deeply value the work that the CDC does in safeguarding public health and am proud of my contributions to that critical mission. However, after much contemplation and reflection on recent developments and perspectives brought to light by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., I find that the views he and his staff have shared challenge my ability to continue in my current role at the agency and in the service of the health of the American people. Enough is enough.

While I hold immense respect for the institution and my colleagues, I believe that it is imperative to align my professional responsibilities to my system of ethics and my understanding of the science of infectious disease, immunology, and my promise to serve the American people. This step is necessary to ensure that I can contribute effectively in a capacity that allows me to remain true to my principles.

I am unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public’s health. The recent change in the adult and children’s immunization schedule threaten the lives of the youngest Americans and pregnant people. The data analyses that supported this decision have never been shared with CDC despite my respectful requests to HHS and other leadership. This lack of meaningful engagement was further compounded by a “frequently asked questions” document written to support the Secretary’s directive that was circulated by HHS without input from CDC subject matter experts and that cited studies that did not support the conclusions that were attributed to these authors. Having worked in local and national public health for years, I have never experienced such radical non-transparency, nor have I seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end rather than the good of the American people.

It is untenable to serve in an organization that is not afforded the opportunity to discuss decisions of scientific and public health importance released under the moniker of CDC. The lack of communication by HHS and other CDC political leadership that culminates in social media posts announcing major policy changes without prior notice demonstrate a disregard of normal communication channels and common sense. Having to retrofit analyses and policy actions to match inadequately thought-out announcements in poorly scripted videos or page long X posts should not be how organizations responsible for the health of people should function. Some examples include the announcement of the change in the COVID-19 recommendations for children and pregnant people, the firing of scientists from ACIP by X post and an op-ed rather than direct communication with these valuable experts, the announcement of new ACIP members by X before onboarding and vetting have completed, and the release of term of reference for an ACIP workgroup that ignored all feedback from career staff at CDC.

The recent term of reference for the COVID vaccine work group created by this ACIP puts people of dubious intent and more dubious scientific rigor in charge of recommending vaccine policy to a director hamstrung and sidelined by an authoritarian leader. Their desire to please a political base will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults. Their base should be the people they serve not a political voting bloc.

I have always been first to challenge scientific and public health dogma in my career and was excited by the opportunity to do so again. I was optimistic that there would be an opportunity to brief the Secretary about key topics such as measles, avian influenza, and the highly coordinated approach to the respiratory virus season. Such briefings would allow exchange of ideas and a shared path to support the vision of “Making America Healthy Again.” We are seven months into the new administration, and no CDC subject matter expert from my Center has ever briefed the Secretary. I am not sure who the Secretary is listening to, but it is quite certainly not to us. Unvetted and conflicted outside organizations seem to be the sources HHS use over the gold standard science of CDC and other reputable sources. At a hearing, Secretary Kennedy said that Americans should not take medical advice from him. To the contrary, an appropriately briefed and inquisitive Secretary should be a source of health information for the people he serves. As it stands now, I must agree with him, that he should not be considered a source of accurate information.

The intentional eroding of trust in low-risk vaccines favoring natural infection and unproven remedies will bring us to a pre-vaccine era where only the strong will survive and many if not all will suffer. I believe in nutrition and exercise. I believe in making our food supply healthier, and I also believe in using vaccines to prevent death and disability. Eugenics plays prominently in the rhetoric being generated and is derivative of a legacy that good medicine and science should continue to shun.

The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud. I am resigning because of the cowardice of a leader that cannot admit that HIS and his minions’ words over decades created an environment where violence like this can occur. I reject his and his colleagues’ thoughts and prayers, and advise they direct those to people that they have not actively harmed.

For decades, I have been a trusted voice for the LGBTQ community when it comes to critical health topics. I must also cite the recklessness of the administration in their efforts to erase transgender populations, cease critical domestic and international HIV programming, and terminate key research to support equity as part of my decision.

Public health is not merely about the health of the individual, but it is about the health of the community, the nation, the world. The nation’s health security is at risk and is in the hands of people focusing on ideological self-interest.

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the opportunities for growth, learning, and collaboration that I have been afforded during my time at the CDC. It has been a privilege to work alongside such dedicated professionals who are committed to improving the health and well-being of communities across the nation even when under attack from within both physically and psychologically.

Thank you once again for the support and guidance I have received from you and previous CDC leadership throughout my tenure. I wish the CDC continued success in its vital mission and that HHS reverse its dangerous course to dismantle public health as a practice and as an institution. If they continue the current path, they risk our personal well-being and the security of the United States.

Sincerely,

Demetre C. Daskalakis MD MPH (he/his/him)
7:14 PM · Aug 27, 2025

A man of integrity, pulling no punches!

The problem is: Trump wins anyway. Assuming that the plan is to destroy confidence in American instutitions (presuming that this is in order to make life for oligarchs a little freer from regulation and annoying facts) then duelling recommendations is a great place to start. How many people in the world are really qualified to make a sober choice between the Ob/Gyn’s recommendations ad the CDC’s? Not many. But we all have to choose anyway which means we can all create our own little bubbles of trusted authorities, picking and choosing according to factors that are not particularly germane to the actual science.

Gaining respect and building a superb team is hard. Losing respect and breaking up a superb team is easy.