President Trump’s pick for Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Susan Monarez, Ph.D., who was just confirmed by the Senate in July, has been removed from her position by the White House. Dr. Monarez’s dismissal played out in a social media showdown on X.

In a post on X dated August 27, the U.S. Department for Health and Human Services (HHS) wrote, “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 [HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]  has full confidence in his team at @CDCgov, who will continue to be vigilant in protecting Americans against infectious diseases at home and abroad.”

However, one of Dr. Monarez’s attorneys, Mark S. Zaid, Esq., quickly reposted CDC’s original post, adding that, at the time of the post, Dr. Monarez had neither resigned nor received notification from the White house that she had been fired, contrary to government statements. “As a person of integrity and devoted to science, she will not resign,” the post stated.

The statement was signed by Mr. Zaid and Abbe D. Lowell, Esq., Dr. Monarez’s second attorney. It read, “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.”

The White House, however, leveraged its authority to dismiss Dr. Monarez, with White House spokesperson Kush Desai issuing a statement late Wednesday night, saying “Susan Monarez is not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again [MAHA]… Since Susan Monarez refused to resign despite informing HHS leadership of her intent to do so, the White House has terminated Monarez from her position with CDC.”

After this statement and receiving notification of Dr. Monarez’s termination, Mr. Zaid made a series of additional posts on X explaining that he and Mr. Lowell were rejecting the notification of her dismissal, because, “as a presidential appointee, senate confirmed officer, only the President himself can fire her.”

According to sources close to the situation, Dr. Monarez’s termination was triggered by clashes with HHS Secretary Kennedy (also known as RFK Jr.). First came her refusal to fire three veteran CDC officials, namely, Debra Houry, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director of Programs and Science; Demetre Daskalakis, M.D., Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; and Dan Jernigan, M.D., Director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID).

Additionally, Dr. Monarez reportedly disagreed with Secretary Kennedy over vaccine policies and his stance on the role of vaccines in causing autism.

After Dr. Monarez’s dismissal was confirmed, Dr. Houry, Dr. Daskalakis, and Dr. Jernigan also announced they would be leaving the agency.

Relevant to food safety, Dr. Jernigan headed NCEZID, which is responsible for tracking foodborne illness outbreaks, zoonotic diseases, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Originally, Dr. Monarez was nominated by President Trump for the CDC Director position after withdrawing his previous choice, Dave Weldon, M.D., after it became apparent that he would not be able to secure the votes in Senate required for his confirmation. Dr. Monarez was seen as a less controversial nominee due to not sharing Dr. Weldon’s vaccine skepticism.

Contrary to Wednesday’s fallout, after Dr. Monarez’s confirmation by Senate was announced in July, Secretary Kennedy said in an HHS statement that she is “a public health expert with unimpeachable scientific credentials,” and that he had “full confidence in her ability to restore the CDC’s role as the most trusted authority in public health.”

In her career, Dr. Monarez held positions at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security overseeing research portfolios, as well as in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and on the National Security Council.

How CDC’s Food Safety Work Has Been Affected Under Secretary Kennedy

The firing of Dr. Monarez and the resignation of veteran top officials comes during an already tumultuous time for CDC. The agency has been on the receiving end of significant workforce and budget cuts since the Trump Administration entered the White House, including the dismissal of more than 2,000 staffers.

Relevant to food safety, CDC funding cuts have affected the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) surveillance program, which, in August, quietly slashed the number of foodborne pathogens monitored under the program from eight to two.

Additionally, in April, it was reported that the entire Lead Poisoning Prevention and Surveillance Branch in CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health had been wiped out. Toxic heavy metals (including lead) contamination is a significant food safety concern.