California has hired two former CDC leaders who were fired or quit after clashes with the Trump administration. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that former CDC director Susan Monarez, who claimed she was fired after refusing to approve vaccine guidance not backed by science, and former chief medical officer Debra Houry, who resigned in protest of Monerez's firing, are now advising the California Department of Public Health, per the New York Times. Both testified at a Senate hearing in September. Last month, they began helping California launch a new initiative aimed "to modernize public health infrastructure and maintain trust in science-driven decision-making," according to Newsom's announcement.
The new initiative, the Public Health Network Innovation Exchange, aims to strengthen data-sharing systems for outbreaks and build a network that could operate across state lines. Monarez was named as strategic health technology and funding adviser, while Houry will serve as senior regional and global public health medical advisor, per the Los Angeles Times. Houry describes her role as helping California develop its own tools—such as tests for emerging diseases—and share data with other states without depending solely on federal authorities. Both she and Newsom say the effort is intended to complement, not supplant, the CDC.
The hires fit a broader pattern as Newsom, term-limited in 2026 and widely seen as eyeing a 2028 presidential run, casts California as "a Democratic counterweight" to Trump-era policies, per the New York Times. His administration has recruited federal employees laid off in Washington, including after resisting Trump directives; sued federal agencies; and redrawn political maps to counter Republican moves elsewhere. California has also joined a West Coast vaccine-review pact, signed onto the World Health Organization's Global Outbreak Alert Response Network, and contracted with epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina to help align state policy with public concerns.