She was sworn in less than a month ago, fought anti-vaccine guidance from Kennedy Jr.
Susan Monarez was confirmed as CDC director on July 29 but lost her job on Wednesday, according to Health and Human Services. Photo by CDC
Susan Monarez, who was sworn in as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director less than one month, was removed from her position by the White House after she refused to resign.
Four other CDC leaders also resigned Wednesday over frustration about anti-vaccine policy pushed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“Susan Monarez is not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said late Wednesday in a statement to media, including NBC News. “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.”
The agency and Monarez’s attorneys earlier released conflicting statements about her situation.
“Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” HHS posted on X at 5:30 p.m. EDT. “We thank her for her dedicated service to the American people.”
“Dr. 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,” her attorneys Abbe David Lowell and Mark S. Zaid posted on BlueSky.
The CDC, like the Food and Drug Administration, is part of HHS.
“First it was independent advisory committees and career experts,” the attorneys wrote. “Then it was the dismissal of seasoned scientists. Now Secretary Kennedy and HHS have set their sights on weaponizing public health for political gain and putting millions of American lives at risk.”
Monarez, 50, the first non-physician to lead the agency in more than 50 years, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 29 in a 51-47 vote and sworn in on July 31. She served as acting director when Donald Trump became president again on Jan. 20 and was nominated for the top job on March 24. Dave Weldon’s nomination was withdrawn because of the former U.S. House member’s questioning of vaccine safety.
For two years, she was deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, where she applied artificial intelligence and machine learning to health matters.
“When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts, she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda,” her attorneys wrote. “For that reason, she has been targeted.”
Lowell also represents Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook in a legal challenge to Trump’s attempt to fire her Monday.
The HHS post also said Kennedy has “full confidence in his team at @CDCgov who will continue to be vigilant in protecting Americans against infectious diseases at home and abroad.”
No mention was named by the HHS or White House of an acting direcgtor.
NBC reported four other top CDC officials submitted their resignations: Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC’s chief medical officer; Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; Dr. Daniel Jernigan, the director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases; and Dr. Jen Layden, director of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance and Technology.
“I am unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public’s health,” Daskalakis wrote in a lengthy resignation letter posted on X. “The recent change in the adult and children’s immunization schedule threaten the lives of the youngest Americans and pregnant people.”
It was addressed to Houry, who also resigned.
“For the good of the nation and the world, the science at CDC should never be censored or subject to political pauses and interpretations,” Houry wrote in a resignation email to staff obtained by CNN. “Vaccines save lives – this is an indisputable, well-established scientific fact. 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.”
Dr. Mandy Cohen, who ran CDC from 2023-2025 when Joe Biden was president, described the officials as “exceptional leaders who have served over many decades and many administrations.” She said “the weakening of the CDC leaves us less safe and more vulnerable as a country.”
What led up to dismissal
The New York Times and The Washington Post described the timetable of HHS wanting her gone.
Monarez reportedly was summoned to Kennedy’s office on Monday, and demanded she resign. After refusing, Kennedy ordered her to remove the agency’s top leadership by the end of this week.
She then consulted with several senators, including Bill Cassidy, the Republican chairman of the Senate health committee, who reluctantly approved Kennedy to lead the HHS with assurances from him that he would not undermine public trust in vaccines. Kennedy, a lawyer without a science degree, was confirmed 52-48.
Kennedy then summoned her to his office on Tuesday, reportedlty accusing her of “being a leaker” and told her she would be fired
On Wednesday, a White House official reportedly told Monarez that if she did not resign by the end of the day, President Donald Trump would terminate her.
She was supposed to convene a meeting with CDC staff on Monday about safety concerns and security enhancements.
“Unfortunately, we need to postpone Monday’s event for an HHS meeting that I have been asked to attend in person in DC,” Monarez wrote in an email to CDC staff seen by NBC News.
Changing policies on vaccines
Sources told The New York Times that Monarez objected to Kennedy replacing all members of the CDC advisory committee on vaccines. He distanced the entire committee of all 17 members, and on June 11 named eight people, including prominent vaccine skeptics and pandemic response critics.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices normally includes pediatricians, geriatricians and other vaccine experts but the new panel includes a psychiatrist, neuroscientist, epidemiologist and biostatistician, and professor of operations management.
The CDC recommends the updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine for everyone 6 months and older based on age, vaccination history and immune status. Patients and their families are urged to consult with their physician.
Earlier Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration approved the latest round of COVID-19 vaccines, but new limits were set on which Americans can get them. The agency ended its authorization for the broad use of COVID-19 shots, clearing them only for patients at higher risk of severe illness, and those age 65 and older — or younger adults with at least one underlying health condition who would qualify.
Last week, HHS confirmed Retsef Levia, a vocal COVID-19 vaccine opponent, was appointed to lead a CDC subcommittee reviewing safety of the shots.
On Aug. 5, Kennedy announced HHS will terminate 22 contracts worth $500 million to develop vaccines for respiratory viruses using mRNA technology, including COVID-19 shots, after officials determined the “technology poses more risks than benefits for these respiratory viruses.”
The CDC, which is part of HHS, had 12,820 employees in September 2024, but the numbers have thinned, including 600 terminated earlier this month. In March, HHS announced plans to cut 2,400 positions.
Monarez received three degrees at the University of Wisconsin: Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and a doctorate.
Just eight days after being sworn in, Monarez was thrust into a tragic situation.
On Aug. 8, a gunman shot at six buildings of the CDC’s headquarters in Atlanta, and one police officer died. The gunman, who died at the scene, had said the COVID-19 vaccine made him sick and blamed the CDC,
Members of the CDC union want lies about the COVID-19 shot’s safety to be strongly debunked.
“We know that misinformation can be dangerous,” Monarez said during a meeting, according to a transcript obtained by NBC News. “Not only to health, but to those that trust us and those we want to trust. We need to rebuild the trust together.”
