The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said late Wednesday that Susan Monarez is "no longer" director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, removing her less than a month after she was sworn in following Senate confirmation. No official reason was given for the move, which leaves the nation’s premier public-health agency without a confirmed leader for the second time this year. Monarez’s lawyers, Mark S. Zaid and Abbe Lowell, responded that their client "has neither resigned nor received notification from the White House that she has been fired" and "will not resign." They accused Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of attempting to “weaponize public health for political gain” after Monarez resisted what they described as unscientific directives on vaccine policy. Within hours of the HHS statement, at least four senior CDC officials—Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, immunization chief Demetre Daskalakis, zoonotic-diseases director Daniel Jernigan and data-surveillance head Jennifer Layden—submitted their resignations. In separate emails seen by multiple outlets, the officials cited the "ongoing weaponization of public health," rising misinformation about vaccines and deep budget cuts as reasons for their departures. Monarez, a microbiologist and former deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, had been confirmed on a party-line Senate vote on July 29 and sworn in on July 31, becoming the first CDC director ever approved by the chamber. Her ouster followed a reported confrontation with Kennedy earlier this week and coincided with the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to revoke emergency use authorizations for Covid-19 vaccines while granting narrower approvals. The upheaval compounds turmoil at the CDC, which is contending with proposed $3.6 billion budget reductions, a recent fatal shooting at its Atlanta campus and continued staff layoffs. The White House has not named an interim director, and public-health experts warn the leadership vacuum could hamper the agency’s response to emerging infectious-disease threats.