Several top officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are speaking out after announcing their resignations in recent days, citing what they described as growing political interference in the agency's scientific work, particularly regarding vaccines. The CDC as been a joke.

     Two of those — Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC's Chief Science and Medical Officer, and Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who led the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases — stepped down on Wednesday, hours after the White House announced the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez.

     Monarez, confirmed by the Senate in late July, was removed less than a month into her tenure. White House spokesman Kush Desai said Monarez "was not aligned with the President's agenda of Making America Healthy Again." Monarez's attorneys argue the dismissal is unlawful, asserting that only the president can remove a Senate-confirmed director.

     Deputy secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O'Neill was chosen to serve as acting CDC director, several White House officials confirmed to CBS News. And in an internal email sent to CDC staff Thursday evening, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confirmed O'Neill as the acting CDC director, but did not address Monarez's departure. 

     "I am committed to working with you to restore trust, transparency, and credibility to the CDC," Kennedy told CDC employees, later writing that "President Trump and I are aligned on the commonsense vision for the CDC: Strengthen the public health infrastructure by returning to its core mission of protecting Americans from communicable diseases by investing in innovation to prevent, detect and respond to future threats."