By JONEL ALECCIA, Associated Press

Susan Monarez, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told senators Wednesday that she values vaccines, public health interventions and rigorous scientific evidence, but largely sidestepped questions about widespread cuts to the agency, elimination of programs and whether she disagreed with any of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s actions to date.

“The secretary is doing the important work of leading a complex agency,” Monarez told members of a Senate health committee that will decide whether to advance her nomination.

Monarez, 50, is the first nominee for CDC director to require Senate confirmation. She was named acting director in January and the nominee for the post in March after Trump abruptly withdrew his first choice, David Weldon. Monarez is the former director of a federal biomedical research agency and a respected scientist, though she would be the first nonphysician to lead the CDC in decades.

Susan Monarez, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, arrives to testify before the Senate HELP Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Monarez repeatedly said she had not been involved in decisions earlier this year to cut hundreds of staff and eliminate CDC programs, but that she would work to retain the agency’s core functions and transition key programs to other parts of the Health and Human Services department.

Her answers appeared to frustrate some senators, including Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine, who said he had no questions about her qualifications.

“I’ve got questions about your willingness to follow through on your values,” he said.

In the two-hour hearing, Monarez was sharply questioned about Kennedy’s recent move to fire all 17 members of a crucial committee that evaluates and recommends vaccines, his downplaying of the risks of measles during a nationwide outbreak and staffing cuts to a program that investigates lead poisoning in children.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican who is chairman of the committee, sought assurances about the scientific integrity of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which was reconstituted by Kennedy to include vaccine skeptics.

“Someone can speak as a critic, but there should be someone who’s reviewing the overwhelming evidence of the safety of vaccines,” Cassidy said.

Monarez said she strongly supported public health interventions, including immunizations, saying, “I think vaccines save lives.”

“The ACIP has a very vital role to play,” she added. “And it must make sure that it is using science and evidence to drive that decision-making.”

Related Articles

Fed’s Powell repeats warning about tariffs as some GOP senators accuse him of bias

California found in violation of Title IX in clash with Trump officials over transgender athletes

A look at how Trump’s big bill could change the US immigration system

US Rep. LaMonica McIver pleads not guilty to assault charges stemming from immigration center visit

Trump judicial nominee Emil Bove denies advising lawyers to ignore court orders

She vowed to prioritize innovation, “evidence-based rapid decision-making” and clear communication at the $9.2 billion agency tasked with evaluating vaccines, monitoring diseases and watching for threats to Americans’ health.

Monarez declined to say whether she had disagreed with any of Kennedy’s decisions regarding the agency to date, saying he has “laid out a very clear vision.”

“I think he has prioritized key public health activities for preventing chronic diseases,” she added.

If Monarez is confirmed, it would end a stretch of confusion at the Atlanta-based CDC, where, for months, it wasn’t clear who was running the agency. The acting director’s role was filled in part by Matthew Buzzelli, the CDC’s chief of staff who is a lawyer and political appointee with no medical experience.

Monarez holds doctorate in microbiology and immunology from the University of Wisconsin, and her postdoctoral training was in microbiology and immunology at Stanford University.

At CDC headquarters in Atlanta, employees have said Monarez was rarely heard from between late January and late March, when Trump nominated her.

The CDC was created nearly 80 years ago to prevent the spread of malaria in the U.S. Its mission was later expanded, and it gradually became a global leader on infectious and chronic diseases and a go-to source of health information.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs will likely push up inflation in the coming months, even as some Republican senators suggested the chair was biased against the duties.

On the second day of his twice-yearly testimony before the House and Senate, Powell said that consumers will likely have to shoulder some of the cost of the import taxes. Most Fed officials support cutting rates this year, Powell added, but the central bank wants to take time to see how inflation changes in the months ahead.

“There will be some inflation from tariffs coming,” Powell said under questioning from members of the Senate Banking Committee. “Not yet, but over the course of the coming months.”

Powell noted that the duties would likely cost hundreds of billions of dollars annually, and “some of that is going to fall on the consumer. We’re just kind of waiting to see more data on that.”

Related Articles

CDC nominee Susan Monarez sidesteps questions about disagreements with RFK in Senate hearing

California found in violation of Title IX in clash with Trump officials over transgender athletes

A look at how Trump’s big bill could change the US immigration system

US Rep. LaMonica McIver pleads not guilty to assault charges stemming from immigration center visit

Trump judicial nominee Emil Bove denies advising lawyers to ignore court orders

Some GOP senators criticized Powell, however, for characterizing tariffs as a potential driver of inflation. Sen. Pete Ricketts, a Republican from Nebraska, argued that the duties could simply act as a one-time increase in prices that wouldn’t fuel inflation.

And Sen. Bernie Moreno, a Republican from Ohio, echoed some of Trump’s complaints about Powell’s reluctance to cut rates and accused Powell of political bias.

“You should consider whether you are looking at this through a fiscal lens or a political lens because you just don’t like tariffs,” Moreno said. Powell didn’t respond.

But the Fed chair reiterated that most central bank officials do support cutting the Fed’s key rate this year. And Powell added that it is possible that tariffs won’t increase inflation by very much.

Trump has sharply criticized Powell for not reducing borrowing costs, calling him a “numbskull” and a “fool.” Trump has pushed for rate cuts in order to reduce the interest costs the federal government pays on its debt. Yet some Fed officials have pushed back against that view, saying that it’s not their job to lower the government’s borrowing costs.

So far, inflation has steadily cooled this year despite widespread concerns among economists about the impact of tariffs. The consumer price index ticked up just 0.1% from April to May, the government said last week, a sign that price pressures are muted.

Compared with a year ago, consumer prices rose 2.4% in May, up from a yearly increase of 2.3% in April.

Yet most economists on Wall Street expect that Trump’s tariffs will lift inflation this year, to about 3% to 3.5% by the end of this year.

By COLLIN BINKLEY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has found that the California Department of Education and the state’s high school sports federation violated civil rights law by allowing transgender girls to compete on girls sports teams.

The federal Education Department announced the finding Wednesday and proposed a resolution that would require California to bar transgender women from women’s sports and strip transgender athletes of records, titles and awards. It’s the latest escalation in the Republican administration’s effort to bar transgender athletes from women’s sports teams nationwide.

If California rejects the proposal, the Education Department could move to terminate the state’s federal education funding.

“The Trump Administration will relentlessly enforce Title IX protections for women and girls, and our findings today make clear that California has failed to adhere to its obligations under federal law,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said. “The state must swiftly come into compliance with Title IX or face the consequences that follow.”

Related Articles

A look at how Trump’s big bill could change the US immigration system

US Rep. LaMonica McIver pleads not guilty to assault charges stemming from immigration center visit

Trump judicial nominee Emil Bove denies advising lawyers to ignore court orders

Kennedy’s new vaccine advisers meet for first time

Trump’s budget bill could complicate 2026 tax filing season after IRS cuts, watchdog warns

Title IX is a 1972 law forbidding sex discrimination based in education.

California education and sports officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

Federal officials opened an investigation into the California Interscholastic Federation in February after the organization said it would abide by a state law allowing athletes to compete on teams consistent with their gender identity. That followed an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that was intended to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls and women’s sports.

In April, McMahon’s department opened an investigation into the California Department of Education over the same issue.

Both investigations concluded that state policies violated Title IX. The administration has been invoking the law in its campaign against transgender athletes, launching scores of investigations into schools, colleges and states. It’s a reversal from the Biden administration, which attempted to expand Title IX to provide protections for transgender students. A federal judge struck down the expansion before Trump took office in January.

The administration’s proposed resolution would require California to notify schools that transgender athletes should be barred from girls athletic teams and that all schools must “adopt biology-based definitions of the words ‘male’ and ‘female.’” The state would also have to notify schools that any conflicting interpretation of state law would be considered a violation of Title IX.

Athletes who lost awards, titles or records to transgender athletes would have their honors restored under the proposal, and the state would be required to send personal apology letters to those athletes.

A similar resolution was offered to Maine’s education agency in a separate clash with the administration over transgender athletes. Maine rejected the proposal in April, prompting a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to terminate the state’s federal education funding.

Under federal guidelines, California’s education office and the sports federation have 10 days to come into compliance or risk enforcement action.

The federation separately tested a pilot policy at a state track meet in May, allowing one extra competitor in three events featuring high school junior AB Hernandez, who is trans. The organization announced the change after Trump took to social medial to criticize Hernandez’s participation. The Justice Department said it would investigate Hernandez’s district and the state to determine if Title IX was being violated.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

By PATRICK AFTOORA-ORSAGOS, Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The case behind the U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide a decade ago is known as Obergefell v. Hodges, but the two Ohio men whose names became that title weren’t so at odds as it would seem, and are now friends.

One year after the Supreme Court’s June 26, 2015, decision, lead plaintiff Jim Obergefell was at an event for an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization when its former director asked if he wanted to meet Rick Hodges, who’d been the title defendant in his capacity as state health director in Ohio, one of the states challenged for not allowing same-sex couples to marry.

“I don’t know, you tell me. Do I want to meet Rick Hodges?” Obergefell recalls responding.

The two met for coffee in a hotel and hit it off.

This photo provided by Rick Hodges shows Jim Obergefell, left, and Rick Hodges at an event in Cleveland, Ohio in April 2019. (Rick Hodges via AP)

Hodges said he wanted to meet Obergefell because he’s an “icon.” He said he remembers telling Obergefell something along the lines of: “I don’t know if congratulations are in order because this began with you losing your husband, but I’m glad you won and I’ve never been so happy to lose in my life.”

Obergefell and John Arthur, who brought the initial legal action, were longtime partners living in Cincinnati. After Arthur was diagnosed with ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in 2011, Obergefell became Arthur’s caregiver as the incurable condition ravaged his health. They flew to Maryland to marry before Arthur died in 2013, and the legal battle began when they learned their union wouldn’t be listed on the death certificate handled by the Ohio Department of Health.

Although Hodges’ role as health director required him to defend the state, it didn’t mean that his personal views aligned with the state’s position.

“Personally, I was supportive of their efforts, as were some of the people who worked on the case for the state. Professionally, I had a job to do and I did it to the best of my ability,” Hodges said.

Related Articles

California official criticized for appearing to call on gangs to intervene in immigration raids

Karen Read jury foreman appeals to FBI to reopen the murder investigation

Kroger announces closure of 60 stores across U.S.

In US, the Iranian diaspora contends with the Israel-Iran war and a fragile ceasefire

Kilmar Abrego Garcia is expected to be released from jail only to be taken into immigration custody

In the months leading up to the court’s decision, Hodges had gathered a group of Ohio lawyers to develop the paperwork needed to create the licensing system for judges to grant same-sex couples marriage licenses on the day of the decision if the Supreme Court ruled in their favor, said Obergefell’s lead attorney in the case, Al Gerhardstein.

Gerhardstein said Obergefell and Hodge’s friendship is unusual in a “very positive and exemplary way.”

“We need more models like that as we struggle with difficult social issues,” he said.

The duo said they see each other two to three times per year and have routinely spoken together at conferences and panels.

“It’s funny, whenever we go into an event together, everybody claps for him and looks at me like I’m the prince of darkness until we’re done, and then it’s great,” Hodges said.

They are seeing each other more often this year since it’s the 10th anniversary of the decision. Recently, they saw each other at a symposium at Northern Kentucky University and at another event, sponsored by Equality Ohio, the same organization that first led to their introduction.

“I can’t think of other cases where the plaintiff and the defendant are friends. They might exist, I don’t know about them,” Obergefell said. “But I’m really glad that Rick and I are friends.”