Susan Monarez, the recently sworn-in director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has been ousted just four weeks after being confirmed by the Senate, the Department of Health and Human Services announced on Wednesday.
“We thank her for her dedicated service to the American people,” HHS said.
Monarez was the second nominee for the position, after President Donald Trump’s first nominee, Dave Weldon, didn’t appear to have the votes for a Senate confirmation because of his skepticism of vaccines.
Monarez, during her confirmation hearing, was clear about her support for vaccines: “I think vaccines save lives. I think that we need to continue to support the promotion of utilization of vaccines,” she said in July.
Three other top CDC officials have also resigned on Wednesday evening, multiple sources familiar with the situation told ABC News.
The officials included the head of science for the agency, as well as the director of an agency center focused on infectious diseases and director of an agency center focused on vaccines.
Monarez also said that she did not see vaccines as a potential cause for the rising rates of autism diagnoses. “I have not seen a causal link between vaccines and autism,” she said.
But over the last few months, her boss, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, has made significant changes to vaccine policy, particularly for COVID vaccines, that have the potential to limit access to the vaccine — including on Wednesday, when Kennedy’s FDA narrowed the scope for who will be approved to get the updated vaccines available this fall and winter.
The latest vaccines were approved for elderly people — adults aged 65 and older — and for younger people if they have at least one underlying condition that puts them at higher risk for severe illness.
Following her departure, the three most senior career officials at the CDC also resigned, according to emails obtained by ABC News.Deb Houry, Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director for Program and Science at CDC, Dan 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, sent emails to colleagues on Wednesday night informing them that they’d submitted their resignations, each mentioning changing policies at CDC.
“I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponizing of public health,” Daskalakis wrote to colleagues.
“You are the best team I have ever worked with, and you continue to shine despite this dark cloud over the agency and our profession,” he said.Houry, who has worked at CDC through Democrat and Republican administrations, said “the science at CDC should never be censored or subject to political pauses or interpretations.”
“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. This is a heartbreaking decision that I make with a heavy heart,” Houry wrote.
The wave of departures comes during a tumultuous time for the CDC, just a few weeks after a shooting on the main campus in Atlanta that hit multiple buildings. Authorities said they found the alleged shooter had been harboring years-long grievances with the COVID-19 vaccine.
Monarez was confirmed on July 29 by a vote of 51-47 along party lines. Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) were absent.
She was the first CDC director nominee to require Senate confirmation after Congress passed a law mandating it in 2022.
Monarez holds a PhD, but she is the first CDC director without a medical degree since 1953.
In a post on X, the CDC wrote a congratulatory message to Monarez, saying that she “brings decades of distinguished experience in health innovation, disaster preparedness, global health, and biosecurity to [the CDC].”
According to her biography on the CDC website, Monarez worked on initiatives including the ethical use of artificial intelligence, addressing disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality and improving the national organ donation and transplantation programs.
Monarez also worked in the public sector under former presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, as well as during Trump’s first term. That work included strategies to combat antimicrobial resistance.
Prior to the CDC, Monarez worked in the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, a federal research funding agency that focuses on biomedical and health breakthroughs. In January 2023, she was appointed deputy director of the agency,
Monarez was named acting CDC director in January, stepping down after she was nominated for the permanent position in March. It came after President Donald Trump’s first pick, Dr. David Weldon, had his nomination pulled by the White House due to a lack of votes.
During her confirmation hearing last month, Monarez expressed support for vaccines, in contrast with Kennedy, who has expressed skepticism.
When questioned on the discredited theory that childhood vaccinations are linked to autism, Monarez stated that she has “not seen a causal link between vaccines and autism.”
Monarez’s departure was first reported by the Washington Post.
