The Trump administration on Wednesday said it had fired the head of the United States' top public health agency after she declined to step down in a standoff with vaccine doubter Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The constant war of words about Kennedy's sweeping reforms to American vaccine policy also led five other high-ranking officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to resign, a union representing some of the agency's workers said.
Susan Monarez, a veteran health scientist and government official for many years, had served as CDC director for only a few weeks when the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on X that she "is no longer director."
Dr. Monarez's attorneys, however, confirmed that she would not be resigning, claiming she had not tendered a resignation and had not been formally informed by the White House of her dismissal.
The White House later issued a statement confirming that Dr. Monarez had indeed been ousted.
"As her lawyer's statement clearly indicates, Susan Monarez is not on board with the President's Making America Healthy Again agenda," wrote White House spokesperson Kush Desai in an email to AFP.
