The CDC director was ousted after just three weeks on the job after a dramatic clash with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over what she called the ‘weaponizing public health for political gain.’
Dr. Susan Monarez – the newly appointed head of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention – was fired by President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening after claiming Kennedy was ‘putting millions of American lives at risk.’
The dismissal came hours after a tense confrontation with Kennedy who tried to force her out of her job.
‘Susan Monarez is not aligned with the president’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again,’ Trump spokesman Kush Desai announced.
‘Since Susan Monarez refused to resign despite informing HHS leadership of her intent to do so, the White House has terminated Monarez from her position with the CDC.’
Monarez’s attorneys had earlier claimed that Kennedy does not have the authority to fire her, as she was the first CDC director in American history to be confirmed by the Senate.
The lawyers then said Monarez ‘has neither resigned nor received notification from the White House that she has been fired and as a person of integrity and devoted to science, she will not resign.’
Susan Monarez, the director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was fired from her position after just three weeks on the job
A spokesperson for President Donald Trump said she ‘is not aligned with the president’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again’
Attorneys Mark S Zaid and Abbe Lowell also argued that Monarez’s ouster was symbolic of larger issues within the federal government.
‘It is about the systematic dismantling of public health institutions, the silencing of experts and the dangerous politicization of science,’ the lawyers said in a statement.
‘The attack on Dr. Monarez is a warning to every American: Our evidence-based systems are being undermined from within,’ they continued, before accusing Kennedy and his department of setting ‘their sights on weaponizing public health for political gain and putting millions of American lives at risk.’
Monarez and Kennedy had been sparring for days before she was ultimately fired on Wednesday.
According to the Washington Post, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services was pressing Monarez for days on whether she would support his efforts to rescind approvals for COVID vaccines.
But each time, Monarez declined to commit to supporting changes to the COVID vaccine guidelines without first consulting her advisors, one insider claimed.
That eventually prompted Kennedy to call for her resignation on Monday for ‘not supporting President Trump’s agenda.’
When Monarez then refused to leave her post, Kennedy reportedly demanded she fire some of the CDC’s other top officials including Chief Medical Officer Deb Houry, Dr. Daniel Jernigan – who oversaw the center that oversees vaccine safety – and Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who ran the center that issues vaccine guidance.
At that point, Monarez decided to get Sen. Bill Casey, the Republican chairman of the Senate health committee, involved, administration officials say.
That seemed to just make Kennedy angrier, however, as he summoned the CDC director to a follow-up meeting on Tuesday in which he reportedly accused her of ‘being a leaker.’
By Wednesday, the White House told Monarez that if she did not plan to resign by the end of the day, the president would fire her, the New York Times reports.
Monarez had reportedly been clashing with Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy for days
Meanwhile, four other high ranking officials resigned from the CDC – including Jernigan, Daskalakis, Houry and Dr. Jennifer Layden, who led the office of public health data.
They cited an increasingly tense environment working with the Trump administration – and hit out at Kennedy in emails to their colleagues announcing their departure.
‘I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponization of public health,’ Daskalakis told his co-workers, who he said ‘continue to shine despite this dark cloud over the agency and our profession.’
‘It is untenable to serve in an organization that is not afforded the opportunity to discuss decisions of scientific and public health importance released under the moniker of CDC,’ he continued in his email, which he later shared to X.
‘The lack of communication by HHS and other CDC political leadership that culminates in social media posts announcing major policy changes without prior notice demonstrates a disregard of normal communication channels and common sense.
‘Having to retrofit analyses and policy actions to match inadequately thought-out announcements in poorly-scripted videos or page-long X posts should not be how organizations responsible for the health of people should function,’ Daskalakis lambasted.
He went on to describe Monarez as ‘hamstrung and sidelined by an authoritarian leader’ whose ‘desire to please a political base will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults.
Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who ran the center that issues vaccine guidance, and Chief Medical Officer Deb Houry announced they were resigning from the CDC in blistering emails criticizing Kennedy and the Department of Health and Human Services
Others that resigned include Dr. Daniel Jernigan – who oversaw the center that oversees vaccine safety – and Dr. Jennifer Layden, who led the office of public health data
Houry also wrote in her resignation letter that proposed budget cuts and reorganization plans would negatively affect the agency’s ability to address public health concerns.
‘For the good of the nation and the world, the science at CDC should never be censored or subject to political pauses and interpretations,’ she wrote, according to CNN.
‘Vaccines save lives – this is an indisputable, well-established scientific fact,’ she said, arguing that ‘informed consent and shared decision-making must focus not only on the risks, but also on the true lifesaving benefits that vaccines provide to individuals and communities.
Houry added that even though it is important to question and analyze research ‘this must be done by experts with the right skills and experience, without bias and considering the full weight of scientific evidence.’
She concluded by claiming misinformation spread by the Department of Health and Human Services has already cost lives, pointing to the record number of measles cases in the United States this year.
Without these senior CDC officials, former leaders of the agency worry about its future.
Dr. Mandy Cohen, who ran the agency in the second half of the Biden administration, called them ‘exceptional leaders who have served over many decades and many administrations.’
Without these senior CDC officials, former leaders of the agency worry about its future.
She warned that ‘the weakening of the CDC leaves us less safe and more vulnerable as a country.’
Dr. Anne Schuchat, who served as the CDC’s principal deputy director before her retirement in 2021, also called the high-ranking officials ‘the best of the best.
‘These individuals are physician-scientist public health superstars,’ she told the Times, adding: ‘I think we should all be scared about the nation’s health security.’
US Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington and a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, even called for Kennedy’s own resignation following the mass exodus and Monarez’s ouster.
‘Susan Monarez’s willingness to stand up for science and to protect the integrit of the CDC is commendable and deeply important – however, it only further underscores the reality at HHS: Director Monarez is not the problem, RFK Jr. is,’ she said in a statement.
‘If there are any adults left in the White House it’s well past time they face reality and fire RFK Jr.,’ she continued.
‘He’s a dangerous man who is determined to abuse his authority to act on truly terrifying conspiracy theories and disinformation – leaving us unprepared for the next deadly pandemic and snuffing out potential cures while he’s at it.’
Monarez was chosen to replace Trump’s first choice in the job, former Republican congressman Dave Weldon, who was criticized for his views on vaccines and autism
Monarez was chosen to replace Trump’s first choice in the job, former Republican congressman Dave Weldon, who was criticized for his views on vaccines and autism.
At her confirmation hearing, Monarez positioned herself as an ardent supporter of vaccines – in contrast with Kennedy, who has repeatedly spread conspiracy theories that the jabs cause autism.
It was then thought that Monarez would help deter Kennedy from going after America’s vaccine policy, but her short tenure was marred by low morale.
Her first week on the job ended with a gunman who believed the COVID-19 vaccine made him sick went on a shooting spree outside the CDC headquarters in Atlanta.
The shooting resulted in the deaths of one police officer, David Rose, and the shooter himself, leaving multiple buildings damaged from gunfire as students at the nearby Emory University took shelter.
Meanwhile, Kennedy plowed ahead with his agenda to change America’s vaccine policies – booting every member of a committee that advises the CDC on how to use vaccines and pledged to replace them with his own picks in a massive shakeup.
The new board has already voted to recommend Americans take flu shots without a chemical that conspiracy theorists believe causes autism.
On Wednesday Kennedy announced that the Department of Health and Human Services signed off on new COVID vaccines – but they would only be approved for people 65 and older or those who have severe risk factors for severe cases.
