POOR HEALTH: The Centers for Disease Control is in a meltdown with the attempt by Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to fire the agency’s new director who was confirmed by the Senate only weeks ago.   Dr. Susan Monarez says Kennedy does not have the authority to fire her and President Trump has to be the one to do it yet he has yet to weigh in. 

  Kennedy has appointed a new acting director.

  Dr. Susan Monarez has been in conflict with Kennedy over his weakening of vaccine policies and what she has described as misinformation about vaccines disseminated under his direction. She is an infectious disease researcher who has been acting director of the CDC since Trump took office and was formally appointed less than a month ago.

  Monarez bucked the demand by Kennedy for her to fire career agency officials and agree to recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Policy that is newly staffed with vaccine skeptics and anti-vaxxers. A critical moment is coming with the vaccine committee expected to announce new standards, particularly for childhood shots for measles, hepatitis and other diseases.

  Three officials who resigned yesterday in protest over the Monarez turmoil were quickly marched to the door. 

  Monarez has also had to deal with mass layoffs at the Department of Health. Thousands of employees have been let go since Trump and Kennedy took office.

  Employees are also reeling from the recent shooting in which their building in Atlanta was peppered with hundreds of bullets and a police officer was killed.

  Appearing on Fox News yesterday morning, Kennedy said about the CDC that, “The agency is in trouble, and we need to fix it, and we are fixing it, and it may be that some people should not be working there anymore.”

FEDERAL CASE: The member of the Federal reserve board that President Trump claims to have fired sued him yesterday calling his attempt to oust her “unprecedented and illegal” and setting up a legal fight with serious implications for the independence of the central bank.

  Trump accuses Fed member Lisa Cook of mortgage fraud although no charges have been brought against her. The President has the power to fire a Fed member “for cause,” and the legal test is what cause and how much proof must be provided.

  Cook’s lawyers framed the attempted firing as part of Trump’s effort to take over the Federal Reserve so loyalists will lower interest rates on his command. Cook has asked the court for an order keeping her on the job while litigation proceeds. 

THE OCCUPATION: As many as 1,000 people have been arrested in Washington since President Trump sent in federal agents and the National Guard to crack down on crime in the district. Many of the arrests are for misdemeanors as minor as smoking marijuana in public and the numbers are up only by about 10 percent from the previous two weeks.

  Nevertheless Trump posted on his Truth Social that, “Carjacking in DC is down 87%. ALL other categories of crime are likewise down massively since I got involved. DC will soon be a CRIME FREE ZONE, in only 14 days, far faster than scheduled.”

  The NY Times analyzed the statistics and reports that with so many trivial infractions “the federal law enforcement surge suggests that the operation has been more of a sprawling dragnet than a targeted crime-fighting operation.”

  Trump may have his eyes on Chicago next. He posted, “Governor Pritzker had 6 murders in Chicago this weekend. 20 people were shot. But he doesn’t want to ask me for help. Can this be possible? The people are desperate for me to STOP THE CRIME, something the Democrats aren’t capable of doing. STAY TUNED!!!”

SWITCHED OFF: Investigators in Ventura County, California say they busted a sophisticated electronics theft ring that operated for years targeting Home Depot stores and lifting about $10 million in goods from 71 locations during as many as 600 hits.

  Prosecutors charge that a. man named David Ahl was head of the ring that would grab electronic breakers, dimmers, switches, and outlets then sell them through his electronics storefront in Tarzana. Ahl’s brother n law and former wife also were charged along with five so-called “boosters,” the professional shoplifters.

THE WAR ROOM: Two weeks after President Trump and Vladmir Putin talked about peace in Ukraine … and Trump said Putin wants peace … Russian attacks yesterday on a five-story apartment building in Kyiv, a shopping mall, and buildings used by European governments killed 18 people.  Ukraine authorities said an addition 45 people were wounded.

  In all, officials said, Russia launched 598 drones and 31 missiles in the overnight assault on Kyiv and other cities. Ukraine’s defenses shot down 563 drones and 26 missiles, according to the Ukrainian authorities.

  “Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table,” Ukraine President Volodymyr  Zelensky wrote on social media. “It chooses to continue killing instead of ending the war. And this means that Russia still does not fear the consequences.”

THE SPIN RACK: Amtrak’s new generation of high speed Acela trains made their first runs yesterday on the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington. The new trains have top speeds of up to 160 miles per and have 27 percent more seats. The US still lags in high speed trains which hit up to 200 mph in other countries. — Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels is shaking up the cast for fall. The latest to go is Heidi Gardner, who’s been with the show for eight years.

BELOW THE FOLD: The New York Post has become the official source of news about Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. She wore a mini-skirt to a college football game last night.

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