The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and several senior officials are starting in a massive shake in the Agency in conflict.
Susan Monarez, the director of the CDC, was dismissed just a month in his role. At least four other officials have also presented their resignations.
“Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” said an X account of the Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday. “We appreciate your service dedicated to the American people.”
The post continued to say that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has full confidence that CDCs “that will continue to monitor Americans against infectious diseases at home and abroad.”
Washington Post reported for the first time about its expulsion.
Four other CDC officials presented their resignations, according to letters reviewed by NBC News: Dr. Debra Houry, Medical Director of the CDC; 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 Diseases; and Dr. Jen Layden, director of the Office of Public Health, Surveillance and Technology Data.
CDC employees said they were amazed by developments.
“These guys are the best in business. They know their things,” said a member of the CDC staff who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals. “I am surprised at how fast this happened.”
The outputs arrive at a tumultuous moment for the agency.
On August 8, an armed man shattered the windows of six buildings on the CDC campuses. A police officer died in the shooting. Several days after the shooting, Monaz sought to reassure employees during a virtual meeting.
“We know that erroneous information can be dangerous,” said Monarch during the meeting, according to a transcription obtained by NBC News. “Not only for health, but for those who trust us and those who want to trust. We need to rebuild trust together.”
The CDC employee said that although Monaz had not been in leadership for a long time, “it seemed that she was a fairly strong defender of the CDC employees. She was the only one to take the shooting seriously.”
President Donald Trump has not made any public statement about the shooting.
Last Friday, Monarch canceled a meeting with the CDC staff that had been scheduled for Monday. The meeting approach was going to be security concerns and security improvements after shooting.
“Unfortunately, we need to postpone Monday’s event for an HHS meeting to which they have asked me to attend in DC person,” Monaz wrote in an email to the CDC staff seen by NBC News.
Michael Ostreholm, an expert in infectious diseases and director of the Research and Policy Center for Infectious Diseases of the University of Minnesota, said in a statement that “the departures are a serious loss for the United States.”
“The loss of experts in world -class infectious diseases on CDC is directly related to the failed leadership of extremists currently in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services,” Osterholm said.
Osterholm is launching the vaccine integrity project as a potential alternative to the Immunization Advisory Committee of the CDC. In June, Kennedy shot the 17 members of ACIP and replaced them with their own elections, including several Covid vaccine skeptics.
With the dismissal of Monarch, the agency returns to the State without a leader in which it has been in the majority of the new Trump administration. Trump’s original choice for the director of the CDC, Dr. David Weldon, was withdrawn from the hours of consideration before his confirmation hearing in March. Weldon, a former Florida congressman, had a history of questioning vaccines.
Monaz briefly served as an interim director of the agency before being nominated in Weldon’s place.
This is a development history. Consult the updates again.
