STAND OFF: Fired CDC Director REFUSES To Step Down

This should get interesting.

Susan Monarez, the CDC director, was fired on Wednesday, but she is now refusing to leave her post.

Monarez has obtained lawyers who claim she cannot be removed unless President Trump himself fires her, and the recent statement by the White House terminating her is not enough.

Longtime government scientist Susan Monarez is refusing to step down as CDC director after the Department of Health and Human Services announced her removal less than a month after she was sworn in. pic.twitter.com/RgEyBITFVS

— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 28, 2025

The Guardian reported more closely on Monarez’s refusal to step down:

A standoff over the firing of the Susan Monarez, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has deepened, with Monarez’s lawyers claiming she will not depart unless Donald Trump himself removes her.

Monarez, an infectious disease specialist who was confirmed as CDC chief just a month ago, was fired on Wednesday, according to a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services, which gave no reason for the departure.

However, the apparently ousted director has refused to be removed. Her lawyers claim that while the White House has said that she is “not aligned with the president’s agenda”, only the president himself can dismiss her.

“As a presidential appointee, senate confirmed officer, only the president himself can fire her,” Monarez’s lawyer Mark Zaid posted on Bluesky.

“For this reason, we reject notification Dr. Monarez has received as legally deficient and she remains as CDC Director. We have notified the White House Counsel of our position.”

A spokesperson for Trump, Kush Desai, said: “As her attorney’s statement makes abundantly clear, Susan Monarez is not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again. Since Susan Monarez refused to resign despite informing HHS leadership of her intent to do so, the White House has terminated Monarez from her position with the CDC.”

RFK Jr. has stated that Monarez’s firing is the beginning of the Trump administration’s effort to eliminate the “rot” inside of U.S. health agencies:

NEW: RFK Jr. says the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez is just the beginning of cleaning out the ROT inside the agency.

As Secretary Kennedy explained, the CDC was at the CENTER of the Covid misinformation campaign…and the problems run MUCH deeper.

“Today on CDC’s website… pic.twitter.com/y1RgEM1Ci1

— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) August 28, 2025

NBC News reported more on Monarez’s firing:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention leadership was in stunning disarray Wednesday evening after the Trump administration fired the agency’s director hours after she refused to resign under pressure.

The director, Susan Monarez, said she was resisting being ousted by the nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for political reasons after about a month in office.

“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,” said her lawyers, Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell.

“Dr. Monarez has neither resigned nor received notification from the White House that she has been fired, and as a person of integrity and devoted to science, she will not resign,” added the attorneys, who did not reply to a request for comment.

The White House fired back shortly afterward, formally terminating Monarez.

“As her attorney’s statement makes abundantly clear, Susan Monarez is not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again. Since Susan Monarez refused to resign despite informing HHS leadership of her intent to do so, the White House has terminated Monarez from her position with the CDC,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said.