CDC Thrown Into Chaos as Top Officials Quit Amid Robert F Kennedy Jr Vaccine Row

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has been plunged into turmoil after a dramatic series of resignations on Wednesday night, sparked by a bitter clash between Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the agency’s new director.

Senior health leaders who walked out issued a grave warning that Kennedy’s politicisation of public health “will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults.” The crisis erupted hours after a Daily Beast report revealed that the administration is considering pulling the COVID vaccine from shelves within months.

British cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, a key adviser to Kennedy’s controversial lobby group Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Action, claimed that many influential members of Donald Trump’s family share Kennedy’s belief that vaccines are more dangerous than the virus itself.

The fallout escalated when Susan Monarez, the CDC’s acting director, was abruptly forced out by the Department of Health & Human Services. Monarez, who had been sworn in just a month ago by Kennedy after being nominated by President Donald Trump, hit back immediately through her lawyers. She accused Kennedy of “weaponizing public health for political gain” and insisted she had not resigned.

Her legal team said: “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.”

But the White House contradicted that, confirming her removal. “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.,” Trump spokesman Kush Desai told The New York Times.

Monarez’s lawyers, Mark S. Zaid and Abbe Lowell, quickly challenged the move, arguing that only the president can dismiss her. “Our client was notified tonight by a White House staffer in the personnel office that she was fired,” they said in a statement. “As a presidential appointee, senate confirmed officer, only the president himself can fire her. For this reason, we reject the notification Dr. Monarez has received as legally deficient and she remains as CDC Director. We have notified the White House Counsel of our position.”

The dispute triggered an exodus from the agency. At least four senior figures resigned in protest within hours of Monarez’s ouster, including Dr Debra Houry, D.C.’s chief medical officer; Dr Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; Dr Daniel Jernigan, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases; and Dr Jen Layden, director of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance and Technology.

All of them joined Monarez in denouncing Kennedy’s leadership, accusing him of promoting “unscientific” policies and spreading health “misinformation.” Monarez’s lawyers went further, warning that Kennedy’s stance on vaccines is “putting millions of lives at risk.”

The row marks one of the most chaotic moments in the agency’s history and raises questions over how the CDC will function as it faces growing internal revolt and public mistrust at a time when clear health leadership is needed most.