- calendar_today August 28, 2025
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Confirmed by the Senate just three weeks ago, Susan Monarez has been forced out of her role as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the latest in a series of shakeups at the beleaguered agency.
First reported by The Washington Post, citing multiple Trump administration officials, when Ars Technica inquired to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for comment, the department referred Ars to a post on its official X account. It 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.”
No reason was given for the abrupt leadership change. According to The Washington Post, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a well-known anti-vaccine activist, had repeatedly pushed Monarez on her COVID-19 vaccine stance. He reportedly asked her to rescind approvals for the vaccines, which she refused to do without the CDC vaccine advisory committees first having an opportunity to weigh in. Kennedy then ordered her to resign, accusing her of not supporting President Donald Trump.
Monarez refused to resign. She instead reached out to Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La. ), who had helped facilitate Kennedy’s own Senate confirmation earlier this year, by first extracting promises from him. She then approached Kennedy again, which reportedly led to a contentious meeting. Afterward, multiple administration officials told Monarez she either had to resign or be fired.
Monarez’s lawyers, Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell, stated on social media, writing that Monarez had not resigned and that, as of 8:15 p.m. ET on August 27, 2023, had still not received any formal termination notice from the White House. “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 told Ars Technica that this was still the case He confirmed with the White House at 8:15 p.m.
CDC in Crisis
Monarez’s July confirmation had been seen as a turning point for the CDC, as many staff were demoralized by the Trump administration’s handling of the agency. Monarez’s approval by the Senate, in a 51–47 party-line vote, was notable for the fact that she was the first CDC director in history to require Senate confirmation, as did a 2022 law. Kennedy himself swore her in on July 31 and expressed hope that Monarez would help restore trust in the CDC and praised her “impeachable scientific credentials.”
Monarez’s résumé was long and distinguished. She has a PhD in microbiology and immunology and previously served as deputy director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) in the Biden administration. Before that, she held several roles at 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 served briefly as acting director of the CDC earlier this year, before Trump nominated her in an official capacity, for which she eventually resigned.
Her appointment had been met with public praise by public health experts. Jennifer Nuzzo at Brown University described Monarez as a “loyal, hardworking civil servant who leads with evidence and pragmatism.” Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, noted that Monarez is both “a very strong researcher” and an able manager.
Yet Monarez’s three-week tenure at the agency ended amid significant turmoil. The CDC has been losing hundreds of workers in buyouts and layoffs and has seen dozens of programs cut or curtailed. Kennedy himself had inflamed tensions by claiming that COVID-19 vaccines were “the deadliest vaccine ever made” and also calling the CDC “a cesspool of corruption.”
On August 8, a shooting happened at the CDC headquarters that many believed was incited by vaccine misinformation. A local police officer was killed, and six different buildings in the CDC compound were struck by a gunman who had repeatedly fired about 500 rounds from an AR-15 style assault rifle. The officer was killed, nd terrified workers scrambled for cover as the shooter, who had blamed vaccines for his own health problems, deliberately targeted the CDC.
But the revelations of Monarez’s reported ouster have only deepened the crisis. Stat News separately confirmed that three high-ranking officials had resigned from the CDC, including Daniel Jernigan, 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 resignation letter, Daskalakis wrote, “I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponization of public health.” Houry, in her own farewell message, similarly emphasized that science “should never be censored or subject to political interpretations.”
Politico earlier on the same day had also reported that Jennifer Layden, director of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology, had also resigned.
For those inside the CDC and beyond, the current situation marks a nadir for an agency that was once considered the bedrock of evidence-based public health. Now, the agency is beset by resignations, political meddling, and a loss of public trust at a time when public health threats are once again on the rise.
