Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) hired two former leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who publicly clashed with the Trump administration and accused it of recklessly abandoning scientific standards.
Newsom made the announcement on Monday, touting the assembly of a “dream team” to lead the state’s new Public Health Network Innovation Exchange.
Former CDC Director Susan Monarez and Debra Houry, the CDC’s former chief medical officer, will lead PHNIX, which was created to “modernize public health infrastructure and maintain trust in science-driven decision-making,” Newsom said.
The initiative aims to strengthen how public health trends are identified and investigated, while building a modern statewide infrastructure that links data, technology, and funding. California is committing $4 million to the effort, money Newsom said was included in the budget he signed in June “in anticipation of this opportunity.”
Monarez was fired by the White House in August after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tried to remove her from her post, but she refused to go. Houry quit the CDC partly in protest over Monarez’s dismissal.
The duo testified at a Senate Health Committee hearing in September. Monarez told lawmakers that she was on the chopping block because she refused to fire top scientists at the CDC and rubber-stamp new vaccine recommendations before seeing any scientific data to support them. Houry said Kennedy “censored CDC science, politicized its processes, and stripped leaders of independence.”
“I could not in good conscience remain under those conditions,” Houry said, adding that Kennedy should resign.
Monarez and Houry are now consultants for the California Department of Public Health.
“We’re seeing scientific inquiry being attacked,” Newsom said during a news conference. “We’re seeing the CDC itself kneecapped by this administration.”
Newsom, a likely Democratic contender for the 2028 presidential nomination, has spent the majority of the year trying to elevate his national profile by repeatedly targeting Trump. He has also worked to ensure that California is seen as a leader in the resistance to the administration.
‘Hallmarks of a government-in-exile’
While Newsom insisted the new health venture is “not a shadow CDC we’re creating but a shield to what’s going on,” others are not so sure.
“Of course it has all the hallmarks of a government-in-exile,” Democratic strategist Garry South told the Washington Examiner. “Remember, California has the word ‘Republic’ on its state flag, and the fourth-largest economy in the world. Trump and his minions have fired some incredibly talented and qualified people, and it only makes sense for the largest state — led by someone who plans to run for president in 2028 — to make itself out as the antidote to Trump and his warped priorities and policies.”
Strategist Kaivan Shroff called the move to hire the former CDC heads “another substantial move for Newsom” and a “smart play.”
“One of the greatest concerns about RFK Jr.’s tenure is not just the damage he is doing now — but how much institutional knowledge and progress he will have destroyed, the impact of which we will feel for decades to come,” he told the Washington Examiner. He later added that the outgoing Democratic governor “seems to be the only one taking big swings” at the Trump administration and said Newsom is “knocking it out of the park.”
Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton disagreed.
“I just think it’s absolutely sickening from the guy who imposed on California the longest, most destructive, most cruel lockdowns that destroyed opportunity for an entire generation of kids in California, who are still suffering the consequences, because he refused to listen and to follow science and instead imposed his political ideology over the facts around COVID,” Hilton told the Washington Examiner. “And then to turn around and position himself as the champion of science and rationality when it comes to disease just turns your stomach.”
Monarez said she was excited to bring her experience in health technology and innovation to support PHNIX.
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“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,” she said in a statement.
Houry said she was confident that PHNIX would help advance “practical, scalable solutions that strengthen public health within the state and across states.”
