Shake Up Among Leadership at CDC

Three key officials at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) have resigned and, according to reports in multiple news outlets, the Trump administration has attempted to fire the agency's chief Susan Monarez, sworn in as CDC Director on July 31, 2025.

Resignations and the attempted firing stem from disagreements around the administration's approach to public health and the role of CDC, which is expected to be a topic of discussion at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on September 4.

LeadingAge has worked closely in the past with two of the officials who resigned, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, and Dr. Daniel Jernigan, Director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, on efforts related to vaccination against respiratory illnesses and infection prevention and control of respiratory illnesses in long-term care. LeadingAge had also recently reached out to Director Monarez urging her to review and renew work on respiratory illness guidance that sits stagnant since Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr. disbanded the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) earlier this year. The loss of these leaders will have broad impacts on public health and long-term care and is indicative of the relative instability and uncertainty at HHS at this time.