Susan Monarez, the director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is being forced out of her job, just weeks after she was confirmed by the Senate to the job.
The Washington Post first reported the news, citing multiple administration officials familiar with the matter.
‘We thank her for her dedicated service to the American people,’ a spokesman from the Heath and Human Services said in a statement to ABC News.
Monarez, an established federal government scientist, was confirmed in July by the Senate.
The news appears to have triggered a mass exodus from the agency.
Other reported CDC leaders resigned included Dan Jernigan, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Deb Houry, chief medical officer, and Demetre Daskalakis, the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
The departures are the latest of a string of public health officials who have been removed, reshuffled, or dropped since President Donald Trump first took office.
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.
Susan Monarez, the director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is being forced out of her job
Monarez, an established federal government scientist, was confirmed in July by the Senate
Her departure takes place just days after HHS announced a significant restructuring of her department, as at least 600 CDC employees received permanent termination notices.
Kennedy also announced recently that the HHS would slash approximately half a billion dollars of funding for vaccine development programs for mRNA technology.
Monarez’s resignation takes place just weeks after 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.
Kennedy was criticized for failing to condemn the shooting until eighteen hours after it occurred.
The HHS condemned his critics for trying to politicize the tragedy.
‘This is a time to stand in solidarity with our public health workforce, not a moment for the media to exploit a tragedy for political gain,’ HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon told the Daily Mail in response to Kennedy’s critics.
