Susan Monarez left the CDC less than a month into her tenure, and HHS provided no explanation for her departure. Monarez’s lawyers said she had neither resigned nor been told she was fired and alleged she was targeted for refusing to approve unscientific directives and for protecting public health over political aims. At least three senior CDC officials resigned, including Drs. Debra Houry, Daniel Jernigan, and Demetre Daskalakis. Houry cited planned budget cuts, reorganization plans, firings, rising vaccine misinformation, and new limits on CDC communications as reasons she could not continue.
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. For that, she has been targeted. This is not about one official. It is about the systematic dismantling of public health institutions, the silencing of experts, and the dangerous politicization of science. The attack on Dr. Monarez is a warning to every American: our evidence-based systems are being undermined from within.
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.
I am committed to protecting the public's health, but the ongoing changes prevent me from continuing in my job as a leader of the agency.
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