Explained: Why The White House Fired CDC Director Susan Monarez After Just Weeks In Office
Susan Monarez was dismissed as CDC director after refusing to resign, with the White House citing her misalignment with US President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The leadership of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was thrown into turmoil on the evening of Aug. 27 after the Donald Trump administration dismissed its director, Susan Monarez. The move came hours after Monarez refused to resign when pressed by Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, NBC News reported.
Monarez, who had been in office for less than a month, said that the pressure to step down was politically motivated. According to NBC News, Monarez said she was resisting attempts to oust her on the basis of politics rather than science.
Clash Over Donald Trump’s Agenda
According to AP, White House spokesman Kush Desai said that Monarez was not “aligned with” President Trump’s agenda and that her refusal to resign left no option but dismissal. Her lawyers, however, described the decision as retaliation for her commitment to evidence-based health policy.
“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,” attorneys Mark Zaid and Abbe David Lowell said in a statement, according to AP.
They added, as reported by NBC News, “Dr Monarez has neither resigned nor received notification from the White House that she has been fired, and as a person of integrity and devoted to science, she will not resign.”
The White House responded hours later by formally terminating her appointment. “As her attorney’s statement makes abundantly clear, Susan Monarez is not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again. Since Susan Monarez refused to resign despite informing HHS leadership of her intent to do so, the White House has terminated Monarez from her position with the CDC,” Desai told, the NBC News report added.
A Brief And Turbulent Tenure
Monarez, 50, was the 21st director of the CDC and the first to go through Senate confirmation following a 2023 law, AP reported. She was sworn in on July 31, making her the shortest-serving leader in the agency’s 79-year history.
Her short spell at CDC was marked by several challenges. Less than two weeks into her role, a gunman opened fire near the CDC’s headquarters in Atlanta, killing a police officer and shooting more than 180 times into the building before turning the weapon on himself. The shooter blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for his mental health struggles, AP said.
During her Senate confirmation hearings, Monarez affirmed her commitment to vaccines and scientific evidence but avoided directly addressing whether her views would conflict with those of Kennedy, a longtime vaccine sceptic.
