BREAKING: Trump White House Picks Top Deputy to RFK Jr. Jim O’Neill to Serve as Acting CDC Director After Dr. Monarez Ousted Over Vaccine Policy
The Trump White House chose top deputy to RFK Jr., Jim O’Neill, to serve as acting CDC Director after Dr. Susan Monarez was ousted from the position on Wednesday, according to The Washington Post.
On Wednesday CDC Director Susan Monarez was fired less than a month on the job.
According to The Washington Post, Monarez departed the CDC over RFK Jr.’s push to change vaccine policy.
However, instead of cleaning out her desk, Dr. Monarez remained defiant and said she would not resign in a statement through her lawyers.
“When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts, she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda. For that, she has been targeted,” the attorneys wrote, according to AP.
“This is not about one official. It is about the systematic dismantling of public health institutions, the silencing of experts, and the dangerous politicization of science. The attack on Dr. Monarez is a warning to every American: our evidence-based systems are being undermined from within,” they said.
Abbe Lowell and I represent @CDCgov Director Susan Monarez. Contrary to govt statements, Dr. Monarez has neither resigned nor yet been fired. We have issued the following statement: pic.twitter.com/5OHbwMkVIQ
— Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) August 27, 2025
Following the departure of Dr. Monarez, three senior CDC officials resigned per The Hill and PBS: Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; Daniel Jernigan, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, and CDC Chief Medical Officer Deb Houry.
Daskalakis, a radical leftist who rose to prominence during the monkeypox outbreak wrote in an email obtained by The Hill: “I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponizing of public health.”
Breaking news: The White House selected Jim O’Neill, a top deputy to RFK Jr., to serve as acting head of the CDC after a clash over vaccine policy ended in the departure of several agency leaders. https://t.co/PkgA5Bpmov
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 28, 2025
Breaking…please check back for updates..
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