Susan Monarez, who was declared out as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday, pushed back within hours, insisting she had not been fired and would not step down, The Hill reported.
The Department of Health and Human Services posted on X at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time, “Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We thank her for her dedicated service to the American people. @SecKennedy has full confidence in his team at @CDCgov who will continue to be vigilant in protecting Americans against infectious diseases at home and abroad.”
By 7 p.m., Monarez’s attorney, Mark Zaid, posted a statement on X rejecting the claim: “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. For that, she has been targeted. 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.”
According to The New York Times, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Monarez on Monday to resign or face termination following disputes over vaccine policy. Instead of complying, Monarez reportedly contacted Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, further angering Kennedy.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed to The Hill that Monarez had been forced out. The Senate confirmed her on July 29 after President Donald Trump nominated her for the post.
She was chosen following Trump’s withdrawal of his original candidate, former Rep. Dave Weldon of Florida, a physician who had expressed skepticism regarding vaccines.
Monarez earned a doctorate in microbiology and immunology. She doesn’t hold a medical degree, which distinguishes her background from that of previous CDC directors.
Monarez is the first CDC director to undergo Senate confirmation, a requirement introduced after the COVID-19 pandemic heightened political scrutiny of the agency.
In the wake of Wednesday’s announcement, four other senior CDC officials submitted their resignations in internal emails. They accused Kennedy of weaponizing public health agencies and signaled deepening fractures within the nation’s top disease-fighting body.
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