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CDC director Susan Monarez has been ousted from her position just weeks after her Senate confirmation. The move is the latest in a series of dramatic departures from the public health agency, which has struggled to regain the public’s trust after recent turmoil.

First reported by The Washington Post on the basis of several Trump administration officials, Ars Technica confirmed the news with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which referred to a statement on its official X account. The post read as follows:

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 explanation was given for the leadership change. The Washington Post says that Monarez, a career public health expert, has been pressured several times by the U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an outspoken anti-vaccine activist, over her stance on COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy reportedly asked her to rescind approvals of the vaccines, but Monarez refused to take that step without consulting the CDC’s vaccine advisory committees. Kennedy then demanded her resignation, accusing her of not being “on message” and not backing Trump’s policies.

Monarez refused to resign and instead contacted Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La. ), who was instrumental in Kennedy’s own confirmation earlier this year after receiving assurances from him. Cassidy called Kennedy out on his demands, and the two officials had a heated exchange. After the call, Monarez was told that she needed to resign or be fired.

Her attorneys, Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell, released a statement on X stating that Monarez had not resigned and had not been officially notified of her firing from the White House. “Her ouster came after she refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts,” the statement read. “She chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda.” Zaid later confirmed to Ars Technica that as of 8:15 p.m. ET on August 27, Monarez had still received no official notification of her dismissal.

CDC Has Been Under Siege

Monarez was confirmed in late July in a 51–47 vote, along party lines, and was seen as a breakthrough at the time. She was the first CDC director ever to undergo Senate confirmation, after a law passed in 2022 made it a requirement. Kennedy himself swore her into office on July 31 and praised her “unimpeachable scientific credentials,” stating that he thought she could restore trust in the CDC.

Monarez had a long and distinguished résumé. She earned a PhD in microbiology and immunology and was deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) in the Biden administration. Other roles include 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. Monarez previously also briefly served as acting director of the CDC earlier this year, before the White House formally appointed her.

She was broadly welcomed by public health experts. Jennifer Nuzzo of Brown University called Monarez a “loyal, hardworking civil servant who leads with evidence and pragmatism.” Georges Benjamin, head of the American Public Health Association, described her as “a strong researcher and administrator with a demonstrated ability to lead organizations.”

But Monarez’s brief tenure at the CDC has come to an end during a period of great turmoil in the agency. The CDC has lost several hundred workers in layoffs and buyouts, and many programs have been cut or hobbled. Kennedy himself has stoked tensions, calling COVID-19 vaccines “the deadliest vaccine ever made” and describing the CDC as “a cesspool of corruption.”

On August 8, tragedy struck when a gunman radicalized by vaccine misinformation opened fire on the CDC campus. The shooter fired nearly 500 rounds, with about 200 hitting six different CDC buildings. One local police officer was killed, while terrified CDC staff scrambled for cover. The shooter had falsely blamed vaccines for his own health conditions and had targeted the CDC as a result.

In the days following Monarez’s reported ouster, Stat News confirmed that three other high-ranking CDC officials had also resigned: 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.

Daskalakis’s farewell message said, “I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponization of public health.” Houry’s resignation note included a reminder that science should “never be censored or subject to political interpretations.”

Politico also reported earlier that day that Jennifer Layden, director of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology, had also resigned.

Monarez’s ouster has come at a time when the CDC is struggling, and many of the agency’s strongest employees have chosen to leave the agency at what may be a critical moment for public health in the US.