The Trump administration’s public health leadership was rocked on Wednesday when U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Susan Monarez was ousted, followed by the resignations of at least four senior officials.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Monarez was “no longer director,” thanking her for her service. Monarez, confirmed by the Senate less than a month ago, had served as acting director since January before her nomination in March. Attorneys representing her disputed the move, saying she had not resigned or received formal notice of dismissal, and claimed she was targeted for resisting “unscientific, reckless directives.”
Her removal triggered immediate fallout. Demetre Daskalakis, head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, resigned with a lengthy statement accusing HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of sidelining experts and promoting policies that undermine vaccine confidence. He wrote that he could not serve in an environment that “weaponizes public health” and warned recent changes to immunization schedules “threaten the lives of the youngest Americans and pregnant people.”
Other departing officials included Daniel Jernigan, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases; Debra Houry, CDC chief medical officer; and Jen Layden, director of the Office of Public Health Data. Houry warned that political interference was overstating risks of vaccines “at the expense of their life-saving impact,” while Jernigan said the current environment left him unable to continue in his role.
The resignations came hours after the Food and Drug Administration revoked emergency use authorizations for COVID-19 vaccines and weeks after a deadly attack at CDC headquarters heightened tensions around public health. Critics have accused Kennedy of stoking animosity toward the agency, which he once called a “cesspool of corruption.”
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