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White House fires CDC director Monarez after she refuses to resign
- andrewflnr 1y ago> Monarez, a longtime federal government scientist, was sworn in on July 31. > President Donald Trump nominated Monarez after withdrawing his first pick to lead the CDC, former Republican congressman Dave Weldon, hours before his confirmation hearing. Is this a record from confirmation to firing?
- pfannkuchen 1y agoThe guy likes firing people, he had a whole tv show about it.
- IAmBroom 1y agoIronically, like any coward, he never does it face-to-face. He hates any possibility of personal confrontation. The show would film him saying those infamous words, and show the reactions when the contestants were told. Likewise, in his current job he tends to fire people over Twitter.
- ivraatiems 1y agoAnthony Scaramucci wasn't confirmed, but he was hired and fired in 11 days during Trump I.
- tw04 1y agoIs it more or less than one Scaramucci? Also: he had no idea she was actually going to try doing her job. He was hoping for another yes-woman and got someone semi-competent. I doubt they'll make that mistake a second time, expect some reality-TV star to be the next nomination.
- drewbug01 1y agoJust shy of three Scaramuccis, in fact.
- treetalker 1y agoThe Mooch!
- dragonwriter 1y ago> Is it more or less than one Scaramucci? Scaramucci wasn't in a Senate-confirmed position, so while perhaps useful as a unit of longevity measure, he’s not a relevant confirmation–firing competitor.
- abeppu 1y agoLogistically / organizationally, what has to go wrong for the administration to nominate her, have her in place for less than a month, and then remove her? Like, before you send someone through confirmation, do you have a quick conversation to confirm, "I want to do X, I have expectations Y" etc and confirm that they're onboard? It sounds like Monarez wasn't willing to be a loyal obedient servant, and good for her -- but could the Trump administration really not determine that in advance? Or was she put in that position for the purpose of being fired, just for the news story, and this is all going to plan?
- altairprime 1y agoIn terms of a CFO in a business: one month after you’re hired, the CEO asks you to lie on this year’s financial reports. You refuse, having joined up on the pretense that you’d be given some leeway to do what’s right, and they fire you. The CEO gets to filter out all future candidates for yeslings, makes clear to the marketplace that they’re powerful ans unconcerned with being viewed as evil, and gets to create suffering and woe for someone who stood up to them. Triple win, especially if sociopathy, and it’s a very effective honeypot for well-intended individuals with a “change from within” mindset. :(
- protocolture 1y agoI saw this happen once. Old owners sell the business, become the C team with profit targets for a big payout. Minutes after the payout the old C team resign to be with family/visit foreign country. New C team comes on board. New C team cant figure out how the numbers work. New C team realises that the books arent as in the black as described. New C team refuses to go down with the ship, resign to be with family etc. Owner manages the business for a few months, sells it back to one of the original owners for pennies on the dollar.
- maest 1y agoClawback clauses are a thing, both for company sellers and C-suite payouts.
- ChrisArchitect 1y agoMore discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45047395 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45047395
- ivraatiems 1y agoThe physicians in my life - including my spouse - have essentially all abandoned the CDC and FDA as a source of decision-making on vaccines and pharmaceuticals, except for what is required by law. Other sources of guidance, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics' immunization schedule[0] and the WHO recommendations[1] are gaining prominence instead. If you are an opponent of vaccines or a supporter of "MAHA", who is happy with what the CDC/FDA is doing, you might want to consider that the way they're doing it has utterly failed to convince the vast majority of people who are responsible for actually executing their guidance, and therefore will have limited impact. As I am neither of those things, I am just glad these other options exist. [0] https://publications.aap.org/redbook/resources/15585/AAP-Immunization-Schedule https://publications.aap.org/redbook/resources/15585/AAP-Imm... [1] https://www.who.int/teams/immunization-vaccines-and-biologicals/policies/who-recommendations-for-routine-immunization---summary-tables https://www.who.int/teams/immunization-vaccines-and-biologic... (And no, I am not looking to debate vaccines or whatever else with you. I'm making a point about how fringe movements who get into power then have to solve the same problems the powerful movements did originally.)
- analog31 1y agoA concern of mine is where the insurance companies will get their guidelines, i.e., who pays. Also, being willing to pay out of pocket is not a panacea, as you can still be turned down.
- clumsysmurf 1y agoIndeed, "Nineteen states have laws or regulations that only let pharmacists administer vaccines recommended by ACIP, according to the American Pharmacists Association. In those states, pharmacies may not be able to dole out shots even for people who fit the FDA’s narrowed range until the committee makes its recommendation." https://apnews.com/article/covid-19-vaccine-insurance-coverage-pharmacists-16b166a86548b37849eff2debc6e6100 https://apnews.com/article/covid-19-vaccine-insurance-covera...
- SoftTalker 1y agoI'd expect insurance companies realize that paying for vaccines is a lot cheaper than paying for measles, mumps, covid, and the flu. They are in business to make a profit, not to pinch pennies at the cost of pounds. Not to mention that common vaccines are not very expensive, even if you're paying out of pocket.
- JustExAWS 1y agoI am trying to figure out what this means for me as a very pro vax person who is healthy - until I get any type of respiratory viral infection and my immune system over reacts. Covid vaccines seem like they are going to be more of a pain to get because I will have to go to a doctor instead of the pharmacist. Flu and pneumonia vaccines don’t seem to be affected yet. I am paying more attention to other country’s health departments since you can no longer trust the US. On the other hand, the US was one of the last countries to admit that the COVID vaccines - especially the non mRNA variants effectiveness wore off. I got a booster off label a couple of months before it was officially recommended in the US based on credible evidence from other country’s health departments
- crooked-v 1y agoIf the Trump administration follows through and makes modern vaccines difficult to get, the simplest option for US citizens will be to take a brief trip over the border to Canada or Mexico and pay out of pocket for a dose. Generally vaccines are cheap enough, even the fancy ones, that the per-dose cost is negligible compared to the travel. You can even make it a short vacation and time the shot at the end, so the full impact and recovery time kicks in once you're back home. There's some intense irony here that "vaccine tourism" used to be an active economic boost for the US (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/covid-shot-tourism-latin-americans-are-traveling-us-vaccines-rcna909 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/covid-shot-tourism-latin...), and now it's going to be very much the other way around.
- nativeit 1y agoI'm very pro-vax and less than healthy, having multiple sclerosis, which is famously not great when immune system production spikes as novel new viruses appear on the scene. My best case scenario for proactive management of my disease involves staying current and getting routine vaccines for seasonal flu and COVID-19. I could literally scream until my lungs bled over the credulousness and willful ignorance of the broader populace. I understand there will always be esoteric areas of science and technology that no layperson should be expected to meaningfully comprehend, but why doesn't that still induce the natural response of "Ask my doctor,"? The lack apparent lack of critical thinking skills is frankly appalling.
- regularization 1y ago[flagged]
- knowitnone2 1y agofires anyone who disagrees or does not fall in line. absolute tyrany
- itake 1y agoI'm probably going to be down voted... but if an organization (business or government) is full of people that refuse to sing the same song, how can such an organization accomplish anything? In politics, we saw what happens when the republicans can't agree with each other and failed to elect a majority leader. We also designate 1 person to control a significant part of our government, not a committee people with opposite view points. Inconsistent messaging from leadership creates distrust amount the workers/population and prevents people from accomplishing anything.
- aaomidi 1y agoBy engaging positively and understanding rather than creating a cult.
- itake 1y agoWhat successful organization isn't cult-like, where everyone sings the same song?
- braebo 1y agoDemocracy (pre fascist coup).
- itake 1y agoBiden fired Gerald B. Wright for loyalty to Trump. Biden also fired Rodney Scott for disagreement on immigration strategy. Obama fired General Stanley McChrystal for critical comments about Obama. What year did it suddenly not become ok to fire people that disagree with you?
- JohnFen 1y ago
- michellegeron 1y ago[dead]
- jmclnx 1y agoLets hope the Senate will not confirm anyone until 2027. The democrats should be be able to delay this confirmation. This way maybe a real scientist will need to step in from the ranks instead of a Trump lackey.
- IAmBroom 1y agoHe's a lame duck president! There's precedent for refusing to consider his nominations! Yeah, I know: we don't have a majority... but we can hope.
- outside1234 1y agoGod forbid she align with evidence based public health The only hope we have here is if Trump is following the advice of RFK Jr. personally as closely as possible.
- wnevets 1y ago> The only hope we have here is if Trump is following the advice of RFK Jr. personally as closely as possible. He may very well be, have you seen his current condition?
- jgeada 1y agoYou sir are part of the problem. How on earth do you have any standing to make any pronouncement? "You've done your research"? You know better with your 5 minutes of googling than scientists that spent their careers studying these things? Sigh ... I despair for how stupid our discourse has become, and how loud and and proud are people's public displays of stupidity and ignorance.
- JohnTHaller 1y agoArticle link in case the MAHA brigade flags this: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/27/cdc-director-susan-monarez-.html https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/27/cdc-director-susan-monarez-....