CDC Director Refuses to Step Down After HHS Ouster

A full-blown bureaucratic mutiny is unfolding inside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where recently ousted CDC Director Susan Monarez is publicly refusing to leave her post despite confirmation from the White House that she’s been fired.

Monarez, who was the first-ever Senate-confirmed director of the CDC, is now lawyering up, alleging she was removed for refusing to go along with what her attorneys called the “unscientific, reckless directives” of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Let that sink in: The same health elite that pushed disastrous lockdowns, unproven mandates, and inconsistent guidance for years is now painting RFK Jr. a vaccine-skeptic and health reformer as the dangerous one.

In a statement released by her attorneys, Monarez claimed she "has neither resigned nor yet been fired" and that she would not step down simply to serve a “political agenda.” But the White House wasn’t having it, with spokesman Kush Desai confirming her removal:

“Susan Monarez is not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again.”

Here’s what triggered the standoff:

• Sources say Monarez was pressured to reverse CDC approvals for certain COVID-19 vaccines, but refused. When she declined, she was told to resign or face termination.

• She allegedly tried to involve Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) in an attempt to preserve her job, further infuriating the administration.

• The White House confirmed that since she refused to step down voluntarily, they terminated her outright.

This internal battle didn’t end with Monarez. At least three other top CDC officials resigned in protest, including:

• Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases

• Dr. Daniel Jernigan, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Disease

• Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC’s Chief Medical Officer

In his resignation letter, Daskalakis blasted the Kennedy-led HHS for changes to vaccine policies and accused the administration of aiming to “erase transgender populations” and dismantle international HIV programs.

That’s the modern CDC in a nutshell: More concerned about social agendas and ideological messaging than real public health outcomes.

Monarez, for her part, was already a controversial figure. Despite lacking a medical degree the first CDC director without one in 70+ years she was confirmed under a new law passed in 2022 that requires Senate approval. Her background? A Ph.D. in microbiology and a résumé stacked with time spent in Washington’s bureaucratic health-industrial complex, including stints at DHS, ARPA-H, and the National Security Council.

Despite her academic credentials, Monarez was a product of the very D.C. class that mismanaged the pandemic from day one, clinging to broken models and flawed mandates while Americans lost jobs, businesses, and children fell behind in school.

RFK Jr. was elected to challenge that system, not rubber-stamp it and now, the swamp is revolting.

This isn’t about science versus politics. It’s about entrenched, unelected officials refusing to accept accountability after years of politicized public health decisions. For once, someone is asking questions and the people who ruled unchecked for years don’t like it.

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