CDC faces leadership crisis as director ousted, senior officials resign

Former CDC leaders speak out against changes

A protest outside CDC headquarters in Atlanta on Thursday underscored the public fallout, with demonstrators both defending the departing officials and voicing support for Kennedy?s policy changes. Three leaders who just resigned in protest spoke to the demonstrators.

ATLANTA - Demonstrators gathered outside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters Thursday as a wave of resignations and the removal of the agency’s director fueled growing turmoil at the nation’s top public health institution.

What we know:

The Department of Health and Human Services announced on social media that CDC Director Susan Monarez was "no longer" with the agency, thanking her for her service but offering no explanation. The post came less than a month after she officially took on the role, making her tenure one of the shortest in the CDC’s history.

Director Susan Monarez fired from CDC

Dr. Susan Monarez, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been fired after less than one month in the job, and several top agency leaders have resigned.

Monarez’s lawyers, Mark Zaid and Abbe David Lowell, said she neither resigned nor received notice of dismissal. In a statement, they accused HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of pushing "reckless, unscientific directives" and targeting Monarez for refusing to fire senior staff. 

Her removal came the same day that four of the CDC’s highest-ranking officials confirmed they were also leaving. Among them were Dr. Deb Houry, the deputy director; Dr. Daniel Jernigan, who oversaw emerging infectious diseases; Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; and Dr. Jennifer Layden, director of data and surveillance. All pointed to sweeping policy shifts under Kennedy as reasons for their exit.

What they're saying:

In an interview with Reuters, Houry said she and her colleagues became alarmed when newly appointed vaccine advisers began drafting recommendations before analyzing available evidence. "We learned through internal discussions that conclusions were being set before the data was even reviewed," Houry said in a joint interview from Emory University’s School of Public Health shortly after leaving the agency. "That is fundamentally at odds with scientific practice."

Kennedy, who has long criticized vaccination programs, dismissed the members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices earlier this summer and replaced them with his own selections, including several prominent vaccine skeptics. Monarez reportedly attempted to restore transparency by adding an oversight official and requiring documents to be made public, but those proposals were blocked by HHS leadership.

"Dr. Monarez wanted accountability and openness. Instead, she was told those measures could not be implemented," Houry said. "If our director couldn’t make even those modest changes, we knew it was time to leave."

Monarez, 50, was the agency’s 21st director and the first confirmed under a 2023 law requiring Senate approval. She had been serving as acting director since January before being nominated in March. She did not respond to requests for comment following her removal.

A protest outside CDC headquarters in Atlanta on Thursday underscored the public fallout, with demonstrators both defending the departing officials and voicing support for Kennedy’s policy changes.

Houry, Daskalakis and Jernigan spoke to hundreds of supporters who gathered on Thursday afternoon outside of the CDC headquarters in Atlanta.

3 now former CDC leaders speak at protest

Three members of the leadership team at the CDC in Atlanta spoke before a large crowd of supporters who gathered on Thursday afternoon outside of the CDC headquarter.

What's next:

The White House has appointed Jim O'Neill, who is currently the deputy secretary of HHS, as the interim leader of the CDC. 

Protest outside CDC Atlanta

Hundreds of people gathered Thursday afternoon to protest the changes that are happening at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent in Atlanta and show their support for leadership that has resigned after the firing of the new CDC director.