Susan Monarez, the longtime government scientist recently confirmed as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has been let go from her position after less than a month in the role.
A source familiar with the situation confirmed to The Hill that Monarez was ousted as CDC director. The Senate confirmed her July 29.
“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,” the X account for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) posted.
The Washington Post was first to report Monarez’s firing.
Prior to being nominated to lead the CDC, Monarez served as acting CDC director shortly after the start of the second Trump administration. She previously served as deputy director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health.
President Trump chose Monarez as his second choice after his first choice, former Florida Rep. David Weldon (R), failed to garner enough GOP support.
Monarez’s nomination was rather drawn out, being confirmed four months after Trump announced he had picked on her Truth Social.
She came to the role with glowing commendations from former colleagues who described her to The Hill as “data-driven,” nonpartisan and an excellent coordinator of public-private partnerships. During her time as acting CDC director, however, it was reported that Monarez did not push back on the White House’s directive to remove CDC pages containing the terms “LGBTQ” and “transgender” and did not seek to preserve crucial data that was taken down.
One former colleague said Monarez was not someone who would seek to aid in dismantling the CDC and speculated she was acting pragmatically to mitigate broader attacks on existing data.
Former U.S. assistant secretary for health and former acting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Brett Giroir said Monarez was likely picked for her ability to provide “an objective, data and science-driven assessment of prospective policy and operational changes that are currently being considered.”
During her Senate confirmation hearing, Monarez trod lightly, at times putting distance between herself and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s views. She stated her belief that “vaccines save lives,” and said she did not see a causal link between autism and vaccinations, something Kennedy has long speculated on.
She gave tacit approval of water fluoridation when pressed by Democratic Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (Md.), saying she believed the fluoridated water in her own Maryland community was safe to drink. Prior to his confirmation, Kennedy said the Trump administration would advise that water systems remove the cavity-preventing mineral.
But when pressed by senators on whether she would break with Kennedy on any issues, Monarez avoided directly answering, instead saying at the time, “If I’m confirmed as CDC director, I look forward to supporting the secretary with science and evidence and making sure that I am giving him the best information possible to help support some of these critical decisions.”
Updated at 5:38 p.m.
