The White House on Thursday defended President Trump’s decision to fire Susan Monarez as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the aftermath of the uproar it has caused at the agency and on Capitol Hill.
“The president has the authority to fire those who are not aligned with his mission,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing.
Leavitt said Trump or Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would announcement a replacement “very soon.”
“The president and Secretary Kennedy are committed to restoring trust and transparency and credibility to the CDC by ensuring their leadership and their decisions are more public-facing, more accountable, strengthening our public health system and restoring it to its core mission of protecting Americans from communicable diseases, investing in innovation to prevent, detect and respond to future threats,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt’s remarks come a day after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) posted a statement on the social platform X at about 5:30 p.m. EDT saying, “Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
Less than two hours later, Washington, D.C., attorney Mark Zaid released a defiant statement on Monarez’s behalf, saying she had “neither resigned nor received notification from the White House that she has been fired.”
“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,” the statement said.
Multiple other top officials at the CDC submitted their resignations on Wednesday, warning that the administration was weaponizing public health.
Lawmakers in both parties have expressed concerns about the fallout at the public health agency.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said the CDC departures “will require oversight.” Cassidy, a physician, cast a pivotal vote to confirm Kennedy in February.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called the Monarez’s firing “outrageous.”
The Senate confirmed Monarez less than a month ago in a 51-47 vote.
