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Susan Monarez has been forced out as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) only weeks after the Senate confirmed her nomination. It’s the latest in a series of major shakeups at the beleaguered public health agency.

The news first broke on The Washington Post, which reported on her ouster from multiple officials within the Trump administration. Ars Technica requested confirmation from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which pointed to a post made on its official X account.

The post 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.”

The post gave no reason for the abrupt change. However, The Washington Post reported that the U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—an outspoken anti-vaccine advocate—had repeatedly pressed Monarez to reverse her department’s approval of COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy reportedly ordered Monarez to withdraw the approvals, but she refused to do so without consulting the CDC’s vaccine advisory committees first.

Kennedy then reportedly asked her to resign, accusing her of failing to support Trump’s policies. Monarez refused. In response, administration officials told her that she had to either resign or be fired.

Monarez had turned to Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who had helped shepherd Kennedy through his own Senate confirmation earlier this year, after obtaining certain assurances. Cassidy, in turn, rebuffed Kennedy’s demands, which led to a heated argument. Afterward, officials told Monarez she must step down.

Lawyers for Monarez, Mark Zaid, and Abbe Lowell, said in a statement shared on social media that Monarez had neither resigned nor received official word from the White House that she had been terminated. “Her ouster came after she refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts,” they said. “She chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda.” Zaid later confirmed to Ars Technica that Monarez had not received any official termination notice by 8:15 p.m. ET on August 27.

CDC Agency in Crisis

Monarez’s confirmation in late July had been seen as a positive development. The vote was 51–47 along party lines, and she was the first CDC director to ever be subject to Senate confirmation, after a 2022 law made it so. Kennedy himself administered the oath of office on July 31, calling her “a public servant with unimpeachable scientific credentials” and adding: “Dr. Monarez and I are committed to restoring the CDC’s credibility as the preeminent public health agency in the world.”

Her credentials were extensive. Monarez has a PhD in microbiology and immunology. She previously worked as deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) under the Biden administration. She also held senior positions 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. She had also briefly served as acting CDC director earlier this year before stepping down when Trump nominated her.

Public health experts had praised Monarez’s nomination. Jennifer Nuzzo of Brown University said she was “a loyal, hardworking civil servant who leads with evidence and pragmatism.” Georges Benjamin, head of the American Public Health Association, described her as “a solid researcher and also a strong manager.”

But her brief time at the CDC was also marred by large-scale dysfunction. The CDC is losing hundreds of employees to layoffs and buyouts, while many programs have been cut or weakened. Kennedy has also contributed to tensions by denouncing COVID-19 vaccines as “the deadliest vaccine ever made” and calling the CDC a “cesspool of corruption.”

On August 8, tragedy also struck when a man radicalized by vaccine misinformation opened fire on the CDC campus. A total of around 500 rounds were fired, about 200 of which struck six different CDC buildings. A local police officer was killed, and other staff scrambled to safety. The shooter had previously blamed vaccines for his own health issues and deliberately targeted the CDC.

The news of Monarez’s reported firing has only exacerbated the agency’s ongoing crisis. Stat News separately reported resignations of three high-ranking officials, including Daniel Jernigan, the director of the National Center for Emerging Zoonotic Infectious Diseases; Deb Houry, the CDC’s Chief Medical Officer; and Demetre Daskalakis, who led the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

In his goodbye message, Daskalakis wrote that “I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponization of public health.” Houry’s parting note emphasized that science should “never be censored or subject to political interpretations.”

Earlier that day, Politico also reported the resignation of Jennifer Layden, who led the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology.

In both inside and outside of the CDC, the departures are seen as a low point for an agency that had previously been the bedrock of evidence-based public health. Now, however, it is facing a cascade of resignations, political interference, and a crisis of trust at a time when public health threats are growing.