The CDC director—the first to be confirmed by the Senate under new legislation—has been ousted after less than a month following internal unrest regarding new, more restrictive approvals for updated COVID-19 vaccines, according to multiple sources.
Susan Monarez is out as CDC director after just 28 days. The first director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be confirmed by the Senate, on July 30, Monarez exited Wednesday, the same day the FDA granted new—and narrower—restrictions for all three currently approved COVID-19 vaccines.
The FDA approved updated formulations of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Comirnaty, Moderna’s Spikevax and mNEXSPIKE and Novavax’s Nuvaxovid Wednesday for all seniors 65 years and older and those under 65 at higher risk of severe disease.
Monarez’s ouster also follows the departure of Jennifer Leyden, director of the CDC’s Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance and Technology, who left Wednesday after approximately five years, POLITICO first reported. News of Monarez’s exit was first reported by The Washington Post.
“Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” HHS posted on its X account Wednesday evening. “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.”
Monarez did not go down without a fight, however. Hours after this statement was posted, the longtime CDC scientist’s lawyers responded, saying that she had not resigned nor been fired. They further accused Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of “weaponizing public health for political gain” and “putting millions of American lives at risk” by purging health officials from the U.S. government, the Post reported later Wednesday evening.
“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,” lawyers Mark S. Zaid and Abbe Lowell wrote in a statement, per the Post. “For that reason, she has been targeted.”
Monarez was officially fired by the White House soon after that statement.
Monarez’s dramatic exit comes after she was “pressed” for days by Kennedy, Trump administration lawyers and other officials over whether she would support rescinding certain approvals for COVID-19 vaccines, according to two individuals familiar with those conversations, the Post reported. Monarez declined to commit to supporting changing policy in this area before consulting with her advisers, according to these sources. This led Kennedy to urge her to resign for “not supporting President Trump’s agenda,” one of the individuals said, per the Post.
Monarez reportedly declined this option and enlisted Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), chairman of the Senate’s health committee, who pushed back on Kennedy’s demands, further inflaming the situation, the Post reported. Administration officials then instructed Monarez to either resign or be fired, per the two sources.
Monarez’s ousting is the latest in a year of massive upheaval within HHS’ top ranks. On July 29—a day before Monarez’s confirmation as CDC director—Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research director Vinay Prasad mysteriously exited his position, only to return 10 days later, after an apparent campaign by longtime ally FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. The previous month, Nicole Verdun, the influential director of the FDA’s Office of Therapeutic Products, along with her deputy, Rachael Anatol, were placed on administrative leave. And this all follows an unprecedented turnover of leadership at the FDA’s highest levels.
Monarez was also joined Wednesday by three additional senior CDC leaders, according to STAT, which referenced notes these sent by these individuals to their staff: Deb Houry, chief medical officer; Daniel Jernigan, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases; and Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
“I am committed to protecting the public’s health, but the ongoing changes prevent me from continuing in my job as a leader of the agency,” Houry wrote, per STAT. She added that science should “never be censored or subject to political interpretations.”
Their exits follow an intense month at the CDC punctuated by the deadly Aug. 8th attack on its headquarters in Atlanta by a shooter who believed he had been harmed by a COVID-19 vaccine. Last week, over 750 current and former employees penned an open letter calling on Kennedy to tone down what they characterized as “dangerous and deceitful statements” that have fostered distrust against federal health workers, exposing them to physical harm.
