Trump fires CDC director who refused RFK Jr.'s vaccine demands

Trump fired CDC Director Susan Monarez on Aug. 27, 2025, after she publicly refused what she called Health Secretary RFK Jr.'s unscientific and reckless directives. Monarez told staff these orders violated established public health principles.

Four senior CDC officials resigned on Aug. 27, 2025, the same day Monarez was fired: DDDr. Debra Houry (deputy director and chief medical officer), Dr. Daniel Jernigan (director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases), Dr. Demetre Daskalakis (director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases), and Dr. Jennifer Layden (director of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology).

Monarez served as CDC director for less than one month after the Senate confirmed her 51-47 on Jul. 29, 2025. She was sworn in on Jul. 31, 2025, making her the shortest-serving CDC director in the agency's 79-year history.

Kennedy, who promotes vaccine conspiracy theories and false claims linking vaccines to autism, now controls the nation's top public health agency. He fired all 17 members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Jun. 9, 2025 and replaced them with appointees, some of whom have vaccine-skeptic views.

Kennedy's appointees to CDC positions include individuals who promoted hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin as COVID-19 treatments. Jim O'Neill, Kennedy's deputy who became acting CDC director after Monarez's firing, supported unproven coronavirus treatments during the pandemic.

Brown University School of Public Health Dean DADr. Ashish Jha, former White House COVID-19 czar, warned that departing CDC officials told him Kennedy wants subordinates who rubber stamp his beliefs regardless of scientific evidence. Jha said officials told him Kennedy plans to declare that vaccines cause autism and demand CDC leadership sign off on that claim.

The CDC traditionally operates with scientific independence from political pressure. The Monarez firing and mass resignations show Trump's administration now demands political loyalty over scientific expertise in public health leadership.