OLD ORCHARD BEACH — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins on Thursday criticized the Trump administration’s firing of the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention following a reported clash with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy.

Susan Monarez, an infectious disease researcher who was sworn in a month ago, was notified by White House personnel Wednesday that she was fired, according to a statement her lawyer shared on the social media site X . He called the firing “legally deficient” because it did not come from the president himself.

“I am extremely alarmed at the firing of the CDC director,” Collins told reporters outside a breakfast for Maine sheriffs. “I know her. I have met with her several times and talked with her on the phone, and I see no basis

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