It’s been a turbulent month at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with the nation’s top public health agency caught in the crosshairs of political, scientific, and personal conflict. The White House announced on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, that it had fired CDC Director Susan Monarez after she refused to resign, marking the end of her brief but controversial tenure. At least four other high-ranking officials also submitted their resignations that same day, deepening the leadership crisis at an agency already reeling from both internal and external pressures.
Monarez, a longtime federal scientist, was only sworn in as CDC director on July 31, 2025. She made history as the first CDC director to be confirmed by the Senate under a new law passed during the pandemic, a move intended to increase oversight and accountability. But her time at the helm was short-lived. According to The Washington Post and ABC News, her ouster was orchestrated by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who reportedly demanded her resignation over mounting tensions around vaccine policy. When Monarez refused to step down, the White House stepped in, firing her outright.
The departures didn’t stop there. On the same day, four other top CDC officials—Dr. Debra Houry (chief medical officer), 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. Jennifer Layden (director of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance and Technology)—announced their resignations. In her resignation letter obtained by NBC News, Houry warned that budget cuts and reorganization plans would undermine the CDC’s ability to address vital public health concerns such as hypertension, diabetes, cancer, drug overdoses, and mental health. Daskalakis, for his part, wrote that he was leaving because of the "ongoing weaponizing of public health."
This leadership shakeup came at a particularly tumultuous time for the CDC. Just a month earlier, on August 8, a gunman attacked the agency’s Atlanta headquarters, resulting in the tragic death of a police officer. The incident left staff shaken and raised fresh concerns about workplace safety. According to NBC News, Monarez had canceled a scheduled meeting with CDC workers, intending to reassure them about efforts to restore "trust in the safety and security of all CDC workplaces."
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) added another layer to the unfolding drama by announcing new limits on who could receive the latest approved round of COVID vaccines in the United States, a decision that has sparked renewed debate over vaccine policy and scientific independence.
As the dust settled, Monarez and her fellow former CDC officials prepared to take their grievances public. They are set to testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, at 10 a.m. The hearing, chaired by Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.), is being billed as a crucial step toward "radical transparency" at the CDC—a phrase Cassidy used repeatedly in his statement announcing the hearing. "Children’s health must be the top priority. I thank President Trump and Secretary Kennedy for making radical transparency a priority," Cassidy said. "To protect children’s health, Americans need to know what has happened and is happening at the CDC. They need to be reassured that their child’s health is given priority. Radical transparency is the only way to do that."
The hearing is expected to feature testimony from Monarez, Houry, and other high-level officials who resigned in the wake of Monarez’s firing. According to The New York Times, Houry said her own resignation was "the last straw" after the Trump administration moved to oust Monarez. She told The Associated Press that three other CDC officials who resigned in late August did so after Kennedy forced Monarez out.
The controversy centers largely on vaccine policy and the independence of public health science. Monarez has maintained that she was pushed out because she refused to "rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts," as her attorney Mark Zaid put it in a statement. "When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts, she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda. For that, she has been targeted."
Kennedy, for his part, has defended his actions. During a contentious Senate Finance Committee hearing in early September, he stood by his decision to fire Monarez, calling her "untrustworthy" and doubling down on his past skepticism of vaccines. Senators on both sides of the aisle grilled Kennedy about the CDC upheaval and his sweeping changes to federal health agencies. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) accused him of conflating chronic disease with the need for vaccines, declaring, "You’re a charlatan. That’s what you are. You’re the ones who conflate chronic disease with the need for vaccines. The history on vaccines is very clear. This is the 20th century."
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) pressed Kennedy on whether he had instructed Monarez to support vaccine recommendations even if they didn’t align with scientific evidence. "Did you, in fact, do what Director Monarez has said you did, which is tell her just go along with vaccine recommendations, even if you didn’t think such recommendations aligned with scientific evidence?" Wyden asked. "No, I did not," Kennedy replied. "So, she’s lying today to the American people in the Wall Street Journal?" Wyden pressed. "Yes, sir," Kennedy responded.
Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock went even further, bluntly telling Kennedy, "You are a hazard to the health of the American people. I think that you ought to resign. And if you don’t resign, the president of the United States—who put forth Operation Warp Speed, which worked—should fire you."
Despite the firestorm, Kennedy has insisted that his approach is about shifting the nation’s health system from "sick care" to true health care, focusing on the root causes of chronic disease. "We at HHS are enacting a once-in-a-generation shift from a sick care system to a true health care system that tackles the root causes of chronic disease," Kennedy said during his testimony.
The upcoming Senate hearing is expected to be a flashpoint for these simmering tensions. Cassidy, a physician himself, has made clear that he wants answers from both the CDC’s ousted leadership and from HHS officials. The committee’s website indicates that additional hearings may follow, with HHS officials invited to respond to concerns raised by Monarez and her colleagues.
As the CDC faces unprecedented scrutiny and a crisis of confidence, the stakes for public health—and public trust—could hardly be higher. The coming days will reveal whether transparency and accountability can help mend the wounds left by this extraordinary leadership shakeup.
