Monarez, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was ousted on Wednesday evening, according to a statement from Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that offered no explanation its decision.
“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,” HHS said in an unsigned statement posted to social media.
Her lawyers pushed back in a statement, saying she had “neither resigned nor received notification” from the White House of her termination.
“When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts, she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda.
Monarez, 50, was the agency’s 21st director and the first to pass through Senate confirmation following a 2023 law.
She was sworn in on 31 July – less than a month ago – making her the shortest-serving CDC director in the history of the 79-year-old agency. »
