Outlook Business Desk
President Donald Trump, on Thursday, 28 August, 2025, fired Susan Monarez, the Director of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The White House said a replacement would be named soon. The decision followed clashes with her over adherence to the administration’s vaccine agenda.
Susan Monarez, a 50-year-old infectious disease researcher, became the CDC’s 21st director and the first non-physician to lead the agency in more than 50 years. Sworn in on 31 July 2025 after Senate confirmation, she served for less than a month, making her the shortest-tenured CDC chief.
Monarez’s refusal to resign, despite pressure from US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., triggered her termination. Kennedy claimed the CDC was misaligned with President Trump’s agenda under her leadership.
Monarez’s lawyers said she was being “targeted” for refusing to rubber-stamp unscientific reckless directives. They claimed she neither resigned nor received formal notification before her termination, highlighting the political tensions influencing leadership decisions at the CDC.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that President Trump has authority to fire officials not aligned with his mission. Spokesman Kush Desai added Monarez’s resistance to directives to dismiss health experts justified her removal in the context of ‘Making America Healthy Again’.
After Susan Monarez was removed, three senior CDC officials also resigned. They opposed Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s hardline stance on vaccines, which included limiting access to Covid boosters and removing advisers. Their sudden exit led them to being escorted by security from the CDC’s Atlanta headquarters.
Kennedy, a known vaccine critic who has long raised questions about vaccine safety, has reshaped CDC's immunisation policies. He removed key advisers and restricted COVID-19 booster access to seniors and high-risk groups, requiring doctor consultation — a move experts warn could weaken vaccination campaigns and public trust.
The upheaval alarmed pharmaceutical companies and medical groups. Experts warned that changes in CDC guidance could disrupt vaccine development and public health initiatives, impacting the $77 billion global vaccine industry and discouraging investment in future immunisations.
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a physician, criticised the CDC leadership changes despite earlier backing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation after vaccine assurances. As a Senate Finance Committee member, Cassidy is expected to question Kennedy further during a September 4 hearing on wider policy issues.