White House Fires CDC Director Susan Monarez After Clash With Health Secretary Kennedy

The White House confirmed late Wednesday that Dr. Susan Monarez, the recently appointed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been dismissed after a bitter standoff with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The decision marks a dramatic shake-up at the nation’s top public health agency, further compounding turmoil already felt within its ranks.

Dr. Monarez, an infectious disease researcher sworn in just a month ago, had openly clashed with Mr. Kennedy over vaccine policy. According to officials familiar with the events, Kennedy summoned her to his office earlier this week, demanding her resignation. When she refused, he pressed her to remove the CDC’s top leadership by the end of the week. Instead, Monarez reached out to lawmakers, including Senator Bill Cassidy, the Republican chair of the Senate health committee. That move appears to have intensified tensions, with Kennedy accusing her of disloyalty and leaking information.

By Wednesday afternoon, the Department of Health and Human Services posted a message on X, formerly Twitter, declaring that Monarez was “no longer” the CDC’s director and thanking her for her service. Hours later, her attorneys Mark S. Zaid and Abbe Lowell strongly disputed the claim, insisting she had neither resigned nor been formally dismissed. “She will not resign,” they wrote, calling the dispute a sign of the broader “dismantling of public health institutions” and “the dangerous politicization of science.”

But later that evening, the White House intervened directly. Spokesman Kush Desai announced via email that Dr. Monarez had officially been terminated. “As her attorney’s statement makes abundantly clear, Susan Monarez is not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again,” he said.

The firing comes just weeks after the CDC endured a shocking gun attack at its Atlanta headquarters, when a gunman angry over COVID-19 vaccines killed a police officer and terrified staff. The upheaval has been compounded by steep budget cuts, mass layoffs, and sharp disagreements over the role of vaccines in public health policy.

Four senior CDC officials resigned in solidarity or frustration following Monarez’s ouster. They include Dr. Debra Houry, the agency’s chief medical officer; Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who oversaw vaccine recommendations; Dr. Daniel Jernigan, who managed vaccine safety; and Dr. Jennifer Layden, who directed the office of public health data. Each of them cited an intolerable climate and what they described as the “weaponization of public health.”

In an email to colleagues, Dr. Daskalakis wrote: “I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponization of public health.” Dr. Jernigan, a veteran of more than three decades at the agency, also stepped down, calling it “the best of the best” job but impossible under current conditions. Their departures, alongside Monarez’s firing, leave the CDC without several of its most experienced leaders at a critical time.

Former directors expressed alarm. Dr. Mandy Cohen, who led the CDC under President Biden, said the agency had lost “exceptional leaders who have served over many decades and many administrations.” Dr. Anne Schuchat, the agency’s longtime deputy, called the group “physician-scientist public health superstars” and warned that their absence puts the nation’s health security at risk.

The turmoil comes as Secretary Kennedy has sought to reshape the CDC in line with his skepticism toward vaccines. He has dismissed members of the agency’s vaccine advisory committee, appointed vocal opponents of COVID-19 immunization to key subcommittees, and pushed for controversial research into links between vaccines and autism, a theory widely discredited by scientists. Kennedy has also pressed to access the Vaccine Safety Datalink, a national database used to monitor vaccine side effects, drawing criticism from experts who fear misuse of the data.

Dr. Monarez, the first non-physician to lead the CDC in over half a century, had been navigating the fallout from these changes when she clashed directly with Kennedy. Colleagues said she sought to reassure staff after the shooting at the Atlanta headquarters, though employees complained she seemed unable to confront Kennedy directly. Tensions boiled over when Kennedy accused her of undermining him, eventually leading to the White House stepping in to end the dispute.

Public health leaders have warned that the episode threatens not just the CDC’s internal stability but America’s broader ability to respond to health crises. Dr. William Foege, the legendary CDC director credited with helping eradicate smallpox, said Kennedy’s rhetoric was partly to blame for recent violence. “His words can be as lethal as the smallpox virus,” Foege wrote.

As of Wednesday night, neither Dr. Monarez nor Secretary Kennedy had publicly commented on the dismissal. But her attorneys made clear they see her removal as part of a larger struggle over the integrity of public health. “The attack on Dr. Monarez is a warning to every American,” they wrote. “Our evidence-based systems are being undermined from within.”