By a vote of 51-47 on Tuesday evening, the Senate confirmed Susan Monarez, PhD, as the next director of the CDC. [Medpage Today]

The vote fell along party lines, with 51 Republicans voting for the nominee and all 45 Democratic senators and two Independent senators voting no. Two senators, Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), did not vote.

Monarez fielded a wide variety of questions during her nomination hearing last month before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Sen. Rand Paul, MD (R-Ky.), asked Monarez whether she thought it was an appropriate use of his office for then-NIH Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD, to ask Anthony Fauci, MD, then the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to "take down" three prominent scientists. Monarez answered, "I'm not familiar with that particular encounter, but we need to make sure that we are open to letting the science ..."

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