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

Official notification of her termination from the White House came late on Aug. 27 after her attorneys denied she had been ousted, even after HHS announced earlier in the day that Monarez was no longer the CDC director.

Still, following the notification, attorneys for Monarez said that as a presidential-appointed, Senate-confirmed officer, only President Donald Trump can fire their client. They said notice from a White House staffer in the personnel office did not satisfy that requirement.

"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," Monarez's attorneys, Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell, said in a statement.

Monarez's contested 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.

Zaid and Lowell, in an earlier statement, accused Kennedy and the HHS of "weaponizing public health for political gain and putting millions of American lives at risk," They said Monarez had neither resigned nor received notification from the White House of her firing, adding that she 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.

"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."

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.

Monarez's legal team said she is weighing legal action to challenge her termination. "All moves (are) under consideration. We do not consider her legally fired," Zaid said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, during an Aug. 28 briefing with reporters, said it was Trump who fired Monarez after she refused to step down when RFK Jr. asked her to resign.

"This woman has never received a vote in her life," Leavitt said. "The president has the authority to fire those who are not aligned with his mission."

Without specifying a reason for Monarez's exit, HHS said in an earlier statement posted on social media, "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 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.

This story has been updated with new information.

Contributing: Reuters

Reach Joey Garrison on X @Joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: White House fires CDC Director Susan Monarez after clash with RFK Jr., but she refuses to quit

Reporting by Joey Garrison and Ben Adler, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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