White House fires new CDC head amid agency exodus

What happened

The White House last night said it has fired Dr. Susan Monarez, the newly confirmed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, following hours of confusion during which the Health and Human Services Department said Monarez was "no longer director" and her lawyers refuted her dismissal.

Four top CDC officials resigned amid the tumult, accusing HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of "weaponizing public health for political gain" and "putting millions of American lives at risk" by purging CDC staff and undermining vaccines.

Who said what

Monarez, confirmed by the Senate on July 29 and sworn in two days later, was pushed out after clashing with Kennedy "over vaccine policy," The New York Times said. The standoff culminated in a "tense confrontation" Monday in which he "tried to remove her from her position and she refused to resign." As a Senate-confirmed official, Monarez can be fired by "only the president himself," her lawyers said Wednesday.

Kennedy had "pressed" Monarez "for days" over "whether she would support rescinding certain approvals for coronavirus vaccines," The Washington Post said. Monarez was "targeted" because she "refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts," her lawyers said. As that statement made "abundantly clear," Monarez "is not aligned with the president's agenda of Making America Healthy Again," White House spokesperson Kush Desai said on social media, so "the White House has terminated" her employment.

The top officials who "resigned minutes after Monarez's news broke" included the CDC's chief medical officer and the directors of its infectious disease, immunization, and public health data centers, Politico said. "The CDC is being decapitated," Public Citizen's Dr. Robert Steinbrook told The Associated Press. "This is an absolute disaster for public health."

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What next?

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a pivotal vote in confirming Kennedy, said the CDC's "high-profile departures will require oversight" by his health committee.