White House Fires US Health Agency Head After Refusal to Quit

AFP/APP

Washington: The Trump administration on Wednesday confirmed it had dismissed the head of the top US public health agency after she refused to resign in a standoff with vaccine-skeptic Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The clash came as Kennedy pushed through sweeping changes to US vaccine policy, triggering a wave of resignations among senior Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials.

Susan Monarez, a career health scientist who had served as CDC director for less than a month, was informed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) via X that she “is no longer director.” But Monarez’s lawyers disputed the decision, saying she neither resigned nor received formal notification from the White House.

Hours later, the White House confirmed her dismissal.

“As her attorney’s statement makes abundantly clear, Susan Monarez is not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in an emailed statement.

“Since Susan Monarez refused to resign despite informing HHS leadership of her intent to do so, the White House has terminated her from her position at the CDC,” he added.

Monarez’s lawyers rejected the action, calling it “legally deficient.”

“As a presidential appointee and Senate-confirmed officer, only the president himself can fire her,” they said, insisting she remained CDC director.

The Washington Post first reported that Kennedy pressured Monarez to resign after she declined to back his controversial vaccine policy changes.

In the aftermath, five senior CDC officials resigned. “Many felt forced to walk away from the jobs they loved because politics left them no choice,” said AFGE Local 2883, the union representing more than 2,000 CDC workers.

Demetre Daskalakis, head of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, announced his resignation on X, saying:

“I am unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public’s health.”

Other high-profile resignations included CDC Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry and Daniel Jernigan, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.

Since taking office, Kennedy has overhauled US vaccine policy—dismissing experts, curbing access to Covid-19 vaccines, and cutting funding for new vaccine development. These moves run counter to scientific consensus and have drawn widespread criticism.

Monarez had been sworn in as CDC director on July 31 after Senate confirmation. Her departure comes amid a crisis at the Atlanta-based agency, which was attacked earlier this month by a man who blamed the Covid vaccine for an illness.

Hundreds of current and former CDC employees have since signed an open letter condemning Kennedy’s actions, accusing him of spreading vaccine misinformation and putting lives at risk.