CDC director ousted after less than a month on the job

Federal officials on Wednesday evening said Dr. Susan Monarez had been removed from her position leading the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on July 31 swore in Monarez to direct the nation’s health agency. In a widely reported statement, White House spokesman Kush Desai said Monarez was not aligned with President Donald Trump’s agenda to make America healthy again and that she had refused to resign despite her previous indications that she intended to do so. Desai did not give any other reasons for her firing. Several other top CDC officials on Wednesday left the agency, with one saying his personal ethics did not align with Kennedy’s views on vaccines and that federal officials were not listening to CDC experts when making decisions.

How has Monarez responded? Monarez’s lawyers rejected the claims, and said Wednesday that she had not been personally notified by the White House of her firing. In a statement, her lawyer Mark Zaid said Monarez was targeted because she refused to approve what he characterized as unscientific and reckless directives. Later Wednesday evening, Zaid said that Monarez’s status as a presidential appointee confirmed by the Senate meant that only the president himself could fire her. She was the first CDC appointee to be confirmed by federal lawmakers, as the position had traditionally been filled by direct presidential appointment until a 2023 law required they receive Senate approval. Zaid said Monarez remained the CDC director and said her lawyers had notified the White House of their position. President Donald Trump had not responded as of Thursday morning.

Who is Monarez? Before joining the CDC, she served as deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health from January 2023. She also held leadership roles within the Department of Health and Human Services, including with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Monarez also held positions at the Department of Homeland Security, the National Security Council, and the White House. She earned her Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dig deeper: Read Stephen Kloosterman’s report about a shooter who attacked the CDC’s campus in Atlanta.