A new day of drama unfolded at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday night after a clash between Health Secretary RFK Jr. and the agency’s new director, Susan Monarez, over the former’s anti-vaccine push. Many of the CDC bosses resigned with a stark warning that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s politicization of public health policy will cost Americans badly.
The ordeal unfolded after Kennedy claimed that the Trump administration is planning to ban the COVID vaccine “within months,” according to a report by the Daily Beast. The senior health officials at CDC have warned that it “will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults.”
Ever since RFK Jr. got the position of Health Secretary, he has done everything to further his crusade against vaccines, just like Donald Trump. Now, Dr. Aseem Malthotra, a British cardiologist, who is a leading advisor to the controversial MAHA, Make America Healthy Again Action, says that many “influential” members in the President’s circle share the same sentiment that vaccines are more dangerous than the virus.
Susan Monarez, who was the former acting director of CDC, accused Kennedy of “weaponizing public health for political gain.” Her lawyers said on Thursday that she 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.”
However, the White House later confirmed that Monarez has been removed from her position at the CDC. According to The New York Times, Trump spokesman Kush Desai said, “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 C.D.C.”
NEW: Susan Monarez was fired as CDC Director for trying to keep mRNA shots on the recommended childhood vaccine schedule and saying “vaccines save lives”
Monarez has a long history of connections to Bill Gates and his foundation, such as her time at Stanford for postdoctoral… pic.twitter.com/Fk43y0CoMb
— Died Suddenly (@DiedSuddenly_) August 27, 2025
However, her lawyers insisted that she remain in the role, as only Trump could fire her, as she was nominated by the President himself. This ouster landed the agency into an inner turmoil, leading to at least four top CDC officials announcing their resignation.
According to The New York Times, D.C.’s chief medical officer, Dr. Debra Houry; the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis; the director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Dr. Daniel Jernigan; and the director of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance and Technology, Dr. Jen Layden have joined Monarez’s war against Kennedy.
“The recent term of reference for the COVID vaccine work group created by this ACIP puts people of dubious intent and more dubious scientific rigor in charge of recommending vaccine policy to a director hamstrung and sidelined by an authoritarian leader,” said Dr. Demetre Daskalakis.
My resignation letter from CDC.
Dear Dr. Houry,
I am writing to formally resign from my position as Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), effective August 28, 2025, close of business.…
— DrDemetre (@dr_demetre) August 27, 2025
“Their desire to please a political base will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults. Their base should be the people they serve, not a political voting bloc,” he added.
“If they continue the current path, they risk our personal well-being and the security of the United States.”
