The Trump administration said on Wednesday that it had fired Susan Monarez, the recently confirmed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after she refused Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s call to resign.
A statement posted on X by Monarez’s attorney, Mark Zaid, claimed that she was targeted for refusing to “rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts.”
“Secretary Kennedy and HHS have set their sights on weaponizing public health for political gain and putting millions of American lives at risk,” the statement added.