CDC director axed by Trump administration refuses to step down

Longtime government scientist Susan Monarez is refusing to leave her position as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced she had been removed from the role less than a month after she was sworn in.

Attorneys Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell said they are representing Monarez and claimed she “has neither resigned nor yet been fired.”

The attorneys released a statement on social media, claiming HHS and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are weaponizing public health for political gain and putting millions of American lives at risk. 

“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,” the statement said. “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.”

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The Washington Post reported that sources within the CDC, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said HHS leaders, including Kennedy, sought to get Monarez to commit to rescinding approvals for certain COVID-19 vaccines. When Monarez did not immediately commit, she was told by administration officials that she must resign or she would be fired. 

Sources also claimed she then attempted to involve the chairman of the Senate’s top health committee, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. The move reportedly further angered Kennedy. 

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the HHS directed Fox News Digital to the agency’s response shared on its official X account.

“Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” HHS said. “We thank her for her dedicated service to the American people. Secretary Kennedy has full confidence in his team at the CDC who will continue to be vigilant in protecting Americans against infectious diseases at home and abroad.”

The White House confirmed to Fox News Digital that Monarez was being removed.

“As her attorney’s statement makes abundantly clear, Susan Monarez is not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement. “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 was tapped by the Trump administration to lead the CDC after its initial nominee, Dave Weldon, withdrew from contention in March amid fears he might not garner enough support in the Senate to be confirmed. Shortly after Weldon stepped down, Monarez was formally nominated to be the CDC’s permanent director and was eventually confirmed in the final week of July.

During Monarez’s confirmation hearing, she expressed support for vaccines and told lawmakers she has “not seen a causal link between vaccines and autism.”

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Prior to Monarez’s Senate confirmation, CDC directors did not typically require Senate approval, but that changed in 2022 when Congress passed a law making it necessary. Monarez was the first-ever Senate-confirmed CDC director in the agency’s history.

Monarez was also the first CDC director without a medical degree in more than seven decades. However, she does hold a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology.

After getting her doctorate, Monarez entered the federal government, where she found herself in roles at the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Security Council, the Department of Homeland Security and the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). Her biography on the CDC’s website says she worked on “leading efforts to enhance the nation’s biomedical innovation capabilities, including combating antimicrobial resistance, expanding the use of wearables to promote patient health, ensuring personal health data privacy, and improving pandemic preparedness.”

Hours after the news that Monarez would no longer head the CDC, sources confirmed to Fox News Digital that at least three other top CDC officials tendered their resignations, including the CDC’s director of its National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Demetre Daskalakis; the director of the National Centers for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Disease, Dr. Daniel Jernigan; and the CDC’s chief medical officer, Debra Houry.

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Daskalakis posted his lengthy resignation letter on X, citing various reasons for his departure, including “the views” of Secretary Kennedy and his staff. 

Daskalakis said he could not continue to work in an administration that treats the CDC “as a tool” to establish policies that “do not reflect scientific reality.” He specifically cited recent changes Kennedy’s HHS has brought to vaccine scheduling for children and adults, arguing it “threaten[s] the lives of the youngest Americans and pregnant people.” 

The former CDC director also cited the administration’s efforts to “erase transgender populations, cease critical domestic and international HIV programming, and terminate key research.”   

Fox News’ David Lewkowict contributed to this report.