Trump's anti-vaccine secretary fires the head of the nation's top public health agency.

BarcelonaLess than a month after her appointment, the White House announced Wednesday night the dismissal of Susan Monarez as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to Monarez's lawyers, the decision was precipitated after a direct confrontation between her and US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his vaccine policy. The dismissal has sparked a wave of resignations at the top of the country's top public health agency.

According to a statement from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Monarez "is no longer the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." The message, circulated on social media, did not include any explanation for the reasons for her dismissal. However, the director's lawyers responded with another statement denying that their client had resigned or received any official notice of termination. "When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to approve reckless and unscientific instructions and to fire compromised health care experts, she chose to protect the public rather than serve a political agenda. For this, she has been targeted," they say.

The confrontation between Monarez and Kennedy had been brewing for days. According to sources close to the administration, New York TimesKennedy Jr. had already asked for her resignation this Monday and, when she refused, demanded that she remove part of the institution's leadership. It was then that Monarez sought support from several senators, which further strained their relationship.

Monarez's departure this Wednesday also prompted the immediate resignation of four senior CDC officials: Debra Houry, medical director; Demitir Daskalakis, head of vaccine recommendations; Daniel Jernigan, in charge of vaccine safety; and Jennifer Layden, head of public health data. All of them denounced the "politicization" of the agency in different internal messages and warned of the risks to the country's health security.

Now we will have to determine the legality of the procedure: Monarez, an infectious disease researcher and the first non-physician to lead the CDC in more than half a century, had been confirmed by the Senate. For this reason, according to legal experts in New York Times, should only be able to be removed directly by President Donald Trump. White House press secretary Kush Desai justified the decision by claiming that the official "was not aligned with the president's agenda to 'make America healthy again'."

The move has been heavily criticized by industry insiders. Mandy Cohen, who headed the agency during the Biden administration, called the departure of Monarez and her colleagues an "irreparable loss." Also critical was Anne Schuchat, former deputy director of the CDC, who warned: "We are witnessing the departure of the best of the best. The nation's health security is at risk."

The crisis at the CDC comes at a particularly sensitive time for the agency: just a few weeks ago, a gunman opened fire on its headquarters in Atlanta, in an attack that was linked to conspiracy theories about vaccines and left a police officer dead and dozens of employees traumatized.