WASHINGTON ‒ The White House said it fired Susan Monarez, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after she refused to step down from her post amid a policy disagreement with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The termination, confirmed late on Aug. 27 by the White House, came after her attorneys denied she had resigned or received notification of her termination, even after HHS announced earlier in the day that Monarez was no longer the CDC director.

Monarez’s ouster, less than one month after the Senate confirmed her to the role, was followed by resignations from three other top CDC officials in protest of Kennedy’s leadership, including his direction on vaccines.

“Secretary Kennedy and HHS have set their sights on weaponizing public health for political gain and putting millions of American lives at risk,” Monarez’s attorneys, Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell, said in a statement, adding that their client was targeted because she “refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts.”

The White House responded with a statement shortly afterward.

The RFK Jr. Dispute That Sparked Trump’s Stunning Move Against CDC Director Susan Monarez

“As her attorney’s statement makes abundantly clear, Susan Monarez is not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again,” White House 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 CDC.”

RFK Jr. has made big promises on autism. Here’s the latest

Kennedy, a longtime skeptic of vaccines, had pushed for Monarez to support changes to the CDC’s vaccine policy, The Washington Post and New York Times reported, both citing multiple anonymous sources. After she refused, Kennedy and White House officials directed her to either resign or be fired, a source told USA TODAY.

Without specifying a reason for Monarez’s exit, HHS in an earlier statement said, “We thank her for her dedicated service to the American people.” HHS did not respond to a request from USA TODAY seeking additional information.

Resignation letters followed on Aug. 27 from CDC Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Director Demetre Daskalakis, and National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Director Daniel Jernigan.

Daskalakis, in his resignation letter, said recent CDC changes to the adult and children’s immunization schedule “threaten the lives of the youngest Americans and pregnant people.

“I am unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public’s health,” Daskalakis said.

He added that it’s “untenable to serve in an organization that is not afforded the opportunity to discuss decisions of scientific and public health importance released under the moniker of CDC.”

Monarez, a federal government scientist, was confirmed by the Senate on July 29 to lead the CDC after President Donald Trump nominated her earlier in the year. She was sworn in by Kennedy on July 31.

Her departure from the agency follows a shooting at the CDC’s headquarters in Atlanta earlier in the month.

Monarez was the Trump administration’s second nominee for the role. In March, the president withdrew his nomination of former Republican congressman and vaccine critic Dave Weldon, a Kennedy ally, just hours before his scheduled confirmation hearing.

Since being named the top U.S. health official, Kennedy has targeted vaccine policy, and in May withdrew a federal recommendation for COVID shots for pregnant women and healthy children.

He followed up in June by firing all members of the CDC’s expert vaccine advisory panel, which recommends how they are used and by whom, and replacing them with hand-picked advisers, including fellow anti-vaccine activists.

Kennedy has made major decisions on vaccines in the absence of a CDC director while Monarez awaited confirmation and continued to do so afterwards. Her departure comes on the same day that Kennedy announced changes to COVID vaccine eligibility.