Overview

• The White House and Health Department said Susan Monarez was removed because she was not in line with President Donald Trump’s agenda.
• Monarez’s attorneys said she neither resigned nor received a valid dismissal, arguing a Senate‑confirmed appointee cannot be fired by staff and indicating she will contest the action.
• U.S. outlets reported she clashed with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over orders to back contentious vaccine changes and to dismiss experts, which she resisted.
• Several senior CDC leaders resigned, including chief medical officer Debra Houry, immunization chief Demetre Daskalakis, and disease‑threats director Daniel Jernigan, with statements decrying politicization.
• The White House named Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill acting CDC director, marking the briefest tenure for a CDC chief in the agency’s history.