This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . The next check for changes will be

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/27/cdc-director-susan-monarez-ousted

The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
CDC director Susan Monarez ousted after less than one month in the job CDC director Susan Monarez ousted for refusing ‘to rubber-stamp unscientific’ orders, say lawyers
(about 1 hour later)
Shortly after nation’s top public health agency announced Monarez’s departure, three senior CDC officials resignedShortly after nation’s top public health agency announced Monarez’s departure, three senior CDC officials resigned
Top CDC officials resign as director pushed – US politics liveTop CDC officials resign as director pushed – US politics live
US officials announced the departure of the director of the nation’s top public health agency, after less than one month in the job, in a move that prompted a wave of other high-profile resignations at the agency on Wednesday. US officials announced on Wednesday the departure of the director of the nation’s top public health agency after less than one month in the job, as her attorneys say she was “targeted” for refusing “to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives”.
“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,” the US Department of Health and Human Services wrote in a statement posted on social media. The abrupt departure has roiled the agency and was swiftly followed by a wave of other high-profile resignations, including three senior CDC officials.
HHS officials did not explain why Monarez is no longer with the agency. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) offered no explanation, making the announcement in an unsigned social media post on Wednesday evening.
The Washington Post first reported she was ousted, citing unnamed sources within the Trump administration. “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,” HHS said in the statement.
Reporting from the Post and the New York Times indicate that Monarez ran afoul of Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, after she declined to commit to fully support changing the coronavirus vaccine policy. Monarez, who was confirmed by the Senate as CDC director just last month, appeared to have afoul of Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, after she declined to support sweeping changes to US vaccine policies, according to reporting from the Washington Post and the New York Times.
The abrupt departure of Monarez was followed by the resignation of several other senior CDC officials. Shortly after HHS announced on social media that Monarez “is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention”, at least three CDC leaders resigned. On Wednesday evening, her lawyers Mark Zaid and Abbe David Lowell told the Associated Press she had neither resigned nor been told she was fired.
“I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponization of public health,” Dr Demetre Daskalakis, who resigned from his position as the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told colleagues in an email obtained by Stat, a health news site. “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. For that, she has been targeted,” her lawyers, Mark Zaid and Abbe David Lowell, said in a statement.
Those concerns were echoed by another departing CDC leader, Dr Deb Houry, the chief medical officer, who wrote that “ongoing changes prevent me from continuing in my job as a leader of the agency”, adding that science should “never be censored or subject to political interpretations”. “This is not about one official,” they added. “It is about the systematic dismantling of public health institutions, the silencing of experts, and the dangerous politicization of science. The attack on Dr. Monarez is a warning to every American: our evidence-based systems are being undermined from within.”
The two CDC leaders, and their colleague Daniel Jernigan, who ran the Center for Emerging Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, quit the agency after the abrupt departure of Susan Monarez, the Senate-confirmed director of the CDC. At least three CDC leaders have resigned since the HHS announcement and have sent letters to their colleagues to explain their reasons for leaving.
The most explosive charge came from Dr Demetre Daskalakis, who stepped down as the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, according to Inside Medicine, an industry newsletter that obtained the full statements.
“I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponizing of public health. You are the best team I have ever worked with, and you continue to shine despite this dark cloud over the agency and our profession,” Daskalakis wrote. “Please take care of yourself and your teams and make the right decisions for yourselves.”
Those concerns were echoed by another departing CDC leader, Dr Deb Houry, the chief medical officer, who wrote that “For the good of the nation and the world, the science at CDC should never be censored or subject to political pauses or interpretations.”
Daniel Jernigan, who ran the Center for Emerging Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, has also quit the agency.
Hours before Monarez left the agency, Kennedy hailed decisions by the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday revoking the emergency use authorization for the Covid-19 vaccines manufactured by Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax that CDC experts estimate saved 3.2 million lives in the United States.
Vaccines from the three manufacturers are now authorized by the FDA only for people who are 65 and older, or younger people with an underlying medical condition that puts them at risk for severe disease. Even those that qualify for the vaccines will only be able to get them in the US if the advisory panel, reshaped by Kennedy to include Covid vaccine opponents, votes to approve them.
Monarez, 50, was the agency’s 21st director and the first to pass through Senate confirmation following a 2023 law. She was named acting director in January and then tapped as the nominee in March after Trump abruptly withdrew his first choice, David Weldon.Monarez, 50, was the agency’s 21st director and the first to pass through Senate confirmation following a 2023 law. She was named acting director in January and then tapped as the nominee in March after Trump abruptly withdrew his first choice, David Weldon.
She was sworn in on 31 July – less than a month ago – making her the shortest-serving CDC director in the history of the 79-year-old agency.She was sworn in on 31 July – less than a month ago – making her the shortest-serving CDC director in the history of the 79-year-old agency.
Maanvi Singh and agencies contributed reporting