More than 1,000 current and former employees of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are demanding that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. resign, following his ousting of the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other actions they say are “compromising the health of the nation.” 

“Should he decline to resign, we call upon the President and U.S. Congress to appoint a new Secretary of Health and Human Services, one whose qualifications and experience ensure that health policy is informed by independent and unbiased peer-reviewed science. We expect those in leadership to act when the health of Americans is at stake,” a letter by the group of former and current employees, sent to Kennedy and members of Congress on Wednesday, states. 

The letter builds on an effort from last month when HHS staff called on Kennedy to do more to protect public health professionals following the Aug. 8 shooting at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta. 

Since the letter’s release on Aug. 20, an additional 887 HHS staff have signed on, according to the organizing group Save HHS. The group said Kennedy has not responded to the letter; HHS released a statement accusing them of politicizing the tragedy. 

The latest letter cited Kennedy’s ousting of Susan Monarez and the subsequent resignations of four top agency leaders in response to her ousting.

The HHS employees also slammed Kennedy for appointing “political ideologues who pose as scientific experts and manipulate data to fit predetermined conclusions,” as well as for continuing to verbally attack his own agency workforce.  

“We believe health policy should be based in strong, evidence-based principles rather than partisan politics. But under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, HHS policies are placing the health of all Americans at risk, regardless of their politics,” the letter stated.  

The staffers emphasized they signed the letter in their personal capacities, and some remained anonymous “out of well-founded fear of retaliation and threats to personal safety.”