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Susan Monarez has been forced out of her recently confirmed role as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to multiple reports. The first report came from The Washington Post, which cited multiple officials within the Trump administration. When Ars Technica reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to confirm the news, it directed Ars to a post on its official X account. The statement said:

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.”

There was no immediate explanation for the change. The Washington Post reported that the U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was confirmed by the Senate last month, had for weeks been pressuring Monarez over her management of COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy wanted her to reverse approvals of the vaccines, but Monarez refused to do so without consulting the CDC’s vaccine advisory committees. Kennedy then reportedly told her to resign, accusing her of failing to fully endorse Trump’s priorities.

Monarez refused and instead reached out to Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La. ), who had been involved in Kennedy’s Senate confirmation in March by obtaining commitments from him on key issues. She was confirmed in July after the party line 51–47 vote. Cassidy reportedly confronted Kennedy over his behavior, sparking a testy exchange. Administration officials then told Monarez that she must resign or face termination.

Lawyers Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell, representing Monarez, released a statement on social media saying that Monarez has not resigned and “has not received any official notice from the White House regarding her removal from the CDC.” “Her ouster came after she refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts,” the statement continued. “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, the White House had not issued any official termination notice.

CDC at Breaking Point

Monarez’s confirmation was seen as a small victory. Confirmed in a 51–47 party-line vote in late July, Monarez became the first CDC director in history subject to Senate confirmation as a 2022 law mandated the procedure. Kennedy himself administered the oath of office to her on July 31, saying that she had “impeachable scientific credentials” and was “an absolute priority for us” in restoring the CDC’s public image.

Her credentials were solid and well respected. Monarez, who holds a PhD in microbiology and immunology, had previously served as deputy director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) in the Biden administration. Other roles included stints at the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Department of Homeland Security, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the National Security Council. She briefly served as acting CDC director in early 2023 before withdrawing when Trump nominated her for the formal post.

She was well regarded in the public health community. Jennifer Nuzzo of Brown University described her as a “loyal, hardworking civil servant who leads with evidence and pragmatism,” while Georges Benjamin, head of the American Public Health Association, said she was a “strong researcher and capable manager.”

But the agency is on edge, and staff are leaving. The CDC has been cutting hundreds of employees through layoffs and buyouts. Many programs have also been either cut or mired in dysfunction. Kennedy himself has inflamed staff by calling COVID-19 vaccines “the deadliest vaccine ever made” and disparaging the CDC as “a cesspool of corruption.”

A tragedy struck on August 8, when a man radicalized by COVID-19 vaccine misinformation opened fire on the CDC headquarters campus. He fired nearly 500 rounds, 200 of which struck six different CDC buildings. One local police officer was killed, and staffers were seen running and hiding in terror. The shooter had falsely blamed vaccines for his health problems and explicitly targeted the CDC.

Monarez’s reported ouster will do little to ease the turmoil. Stat News confirmed that three other high-ranking officials have resigned: Daniel Jernigan, the director of the National Center for Emerging Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, the CDC’s Chief Medical Officer, Deb Houry, and Demetre Daskalakis, the leader of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Daskalakis, in his resignation message, said that he could no longer work for the CDC due to “the ongoing weaponization of public health.” Houry’s parting message emphasized the importance of never allowing science to be “censored or subject to political interpretations.”

Politico reported earlier on the day that Jennifer Layden, the director of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology, also resigned.

It is an ignominious state of affairs for the U.S. government’s preeminent public health agency, whose experts have long been trusted defenders of evidence-based science and whose standing has been shredded over the past few years.