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Susan Monarez was only confirmed by the Senate as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in late July, but now finds herself out of the job, the latest senior official to leave the beleaguered public health agency.

The Washington Post first reported her ouster, speaking to several officials in the Trump administration. In an email, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) referred Ars Technica to a post on its official X account, which stated:

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.”

Notably, the post did not offer any justification for the change. According to The Washington Post, she was told to step down by the U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an outspoken opponent of vaccines who has made claims that COVID-19 vaccines were the cause of various health problems in young people. Kennedy had repeatedly harangued Monarez to reverse the CDC’s approval of COVID-19 vaccines, but Monarez refused, saying that such a reversal could not be made without consulting the CDC’s vaccine advisory committees. Kennedy told her to resign and accused her of being “unable to show that she would carry out President Trump’s agenda.”

Monarez did not resign. Instead, she reached out to Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) for help. Cassidy had been key to Kennedy’s own Senate confirmation earlier this year, but only after Kennedy provided assurances over his views on COVID-19 vaccines. Cassidy raised concerns with Kennedy over his handling of Monarez, and Kennedy lashed back at the senator in a phone call. Following the call, HHS officials told Monarez she must resign or be fired.

In a statement to social media, attorneys Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell said Monarez has not resigned, and that she had not yet been officially informed by the White House that she was fired. “Her ouster came after she refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts,” the statement said. “She chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda,” Zaid confirmed to Ars Technica that as of 8:15 p.m. ET on August 27, Monarez had still not been given an official notice of termination.

Trouble at the CDC

Monarez’s confirmation late last month had been viewed as a major win. She was confirmed by a 51–47 vote along party lines and became the first director of the CDC to be confirmed by the Senate following a 2022 law mandating that directors must be confirmed. Kennedy himself administered the oath of office on July 31 and, when she was confirmed, he had praised her “unimpeachable scientific credentials” and expressed hope she could restore confidence in the CDC.

Monarez also had a long résumé. A PhD in microbiology and immunology, she served as the deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) during the Biden administration. She had also worked with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), the Department of Homeland Security, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the National Security Council, among others. Monarez had also briefly served as the acting CDC director earlier in the year, until she stepped down when Trump formally nominated her to take over.

Public health officials had praised her. Jennifer Nuzzo of Brown University said Monarez was a “loyal, hardworking civil servant who leads with evidence and pragmatism.” Georges Benjamin, head of the American Public Health Association, called her a strong researcher and able manager.

But her tenure was to be short-lived. The CDC has lost hundreds of staff through layoffs and buyouts, while many of its programs have been slashed or otherwise impeded. Kennedy himself has stoked controversy by saying COVID-19 vaccines were “the deadliest vaccine ever made” and referring to the CDC as “a cesspool of corruption.”

On August 8, the CDC campus was the site of a mass shooting. A gunman who had been radicalized by vaccine misinformation shot dozens of times at the CDC campus. An estimated 500 rounds were fired, and about 200 hit six different CDC buildings. One local police officer was killed, and CDC staff panicked and scrambled for cover. The shooter had blamed vaccines for his own health issues and targeted the CDC for it.

The reported removal of Monarez has only further shaken the agency. Stat News reported that Daniel Jernigan, director of the National Center for Emerging Zoonotic Infectious Diseases; Deb Houry, the CDC’s Chief Medical Officer; and Demetre Daskalakis, head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, all resigned in response to her ouster.

Daskalakis’s farewell message read, “I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponization of public health.” Houry wrote, “Science should never be censored or subject to political interpretations. Protecting our work takes patience, fortitude, and teamwork.”

Politico had earlier reported that Jennifer Layden, who led the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology, had resigned the same day.

For those inside and outside of the CDC, the saga is the culmination of a series of damaging events. A major public health agency, it is now instead shedding hundreds of staff, fielding resignations, and suffering from the meddling of partisans at a time when public health needs continue to grow.