CDC director refuses to step down despite reports of ouster

WASHINGTON (CN) — Rumors of Susan Monarez’s departure as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been greatly exaggerated, her attorneys said Wednesday evening.

The announcement came hours after reports that Monarez, confirmed less than a month ago to her role leading the country’s infectious disease response agency, had possibly been sacked by the Trump administration after she refused to commit to changes to Covid-19 vaccine policies at the urging of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

But in a statement Wednesday evening, lawyers representing Monarez said that she would not step down.

“Dr. Monarez has neither resigned nor received notification from the White House that she has been fired, and as a person of integrity and devoted to science, she will not resign,” wrote attorneys Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell.

Monarez’s lawyers added that the agency head had been “targeted” by the White House because she refused to “rubber-stamp” administration directives and fire health experts, arguing that she “chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda.”

According to the Washington Post, which first reported Monarez’s ouster, the CDC director had faced days of pressure from Kennedy to sign off on changes to Covid-19 vaccine approvals. Monarez called on Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy — a key vote in confirming Kennedy to the Health and Human Services Department — for help in swaying the secretary.

But Kennedy, the Post reported, was furious with the CDC director for bringing Cassidy in, and the White House urged her to either resign or be fired.

It’s unclear which option led to Monarez’s reported departure from the agency. The Health and Human Services Department appeared to confirm she had left in a post on X Wednesday, writing that Kennedy had “full confidence” in the remaining team at the CDC “who will continue to be vigilant in protecting Americans against infectious diseases at home and abroad.”

Following news that Monarez had departed the CDC, three more senior agency officials resigned, including the disease response center’s head of immunization and respiratory diseases and its chief medical officer.

Monarez was tapped in January to lead the CDC as its acting director. Trump nominated her for the full-time role in March, and the Senate confirmed her on a 51-47 vote in late July — if her departure sticks, she will have served as the agency’s full-time director for less than a month.

The situation involving Monarez comes as the CDC is expected to issue new guidance soon on who should be eligible to receive Covid-19 vaccines.

Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, faced scrutiny during his nomination process on whether he would seek to roll back the U.S. immunization regime if confirmed to lead the country’s health care regulator. He has previously made false claims that the Covid-19 vaccine is deadly and has opposed its use on children.

The then-nominee sought to allay concerns from some lawmakers, including Cassidy, who ultimately was convinced to support Kennedy’s confirmation. He told senators at the time that his skepticism was merely aimed at gathering more information about the vaccine.

Monarez, meanwhile, is also the second high-profile federal official this week to be the subject of a would-be firing from the Trump administration. The president announced Monday that he had fired Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve’s board of governors.

Cook, who is facing accusations of mortgage fraud from the White House, has similarly refused to step down from her position and has said that she would sue the Trump administration.

Cook is also being represented by Lowell, who earlier this year established a new firm aimed at representing high-profile figures facing what he has characterized as politically motivated attacks.

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