Susan Monarez refused to resign from her post as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), her attorneys said Wednesday night.
The statement from Monarezās attorneys offered no details about the source of the disagreement but argued that her firing by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was invalid, The New York Times reported.
Soon after however, White House spokesman Kush Desai confirmed to several outlets that Monarez had been terminated.
āAs her attorneyās statement makes abundantly clear, Susan Monarez is not aligned with the Presidentās agenda of Making America Healthy Again,ā Desai said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. āSince Susan Monarez refused to resign despite forming HHS leadership of her intent to do so, the White House has terminated Monarez from her position.ā
Monarezās attorneys, Mark S. Zaid and Abbe David Lowell, who have frequently represented opponents of President Donald Trump, described the firing of Monarez as retaliation for her refusal to enact certain policies they described as āweaponizing public health for political gain and putting millions of American lives at risk.ā
Zaid has previously represented the intelligence official whose whistleblower complaint was central to Trumpās 2019 impeachment inquiry. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard revoked his security clearance in March. Lowell also represents New York Attorney General Letitia James and has previously represented Hunter Biden and former Trump administration staffer Miles Taylor.
The statement referenced the firings of āindependent advisory committees and career experts,ā but offered no further details about the source of the disagreement.Ā Kennedy restaffed the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in June, citing the panelās history of hiring physicians with ties to the pharmaceutical industry, which was the subject of a 2000 congressional investigation.
Reports also emerged Wednesday night of the resignations of four other high-ranking CDC staffers: National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Director Dan Jernigan; Chief Medical Officer Deb Houry; National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Director Demetre Daskalakis; and Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology Director Jennifer Layden.
HHS confirmed Monarezās departure from the directorās chair in a post on X earlier in the evening.
āSusan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We thank her for her dedicated service to the American people,ā the post reads.
The post does not describe the reason for her ouster, stating only that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. āhas full confidence in his teamā at CDC āwho will continue to be vigilant in protecting Americans against infectious diseases at home and abroad.ā
Hints of a shakeup first emerged when CDC canceled an agency-wide call scheduled for Monday, according toĀ the Washington Post.
The SenateĀ confirmedĀ Monarez on July 29.
Monarezās nomination to the post in March drew criticism from some individuals associated with the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement.
Some criticized her past positions at the Advanced Research Project Agency for Health (ARPA-H) and Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), research and development arms of HHS. Others criticized social media posts written by Bidenās CDC Director Mandy Cohen that were misattributed to her.
Editorās note: This article has been updated with comment from the White House as well as additional reporting on the matter.
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