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The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Susan Monarez as the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), installing her at the helm of the nation’s top public health agency during a time of significant heavy public scrutiny.
Monarez, 50, was confirmed in a 51-47 vote. She becomes the first CDC director to be confirmed by the Senate, a requirement established under a 2023 law aimed at increasing oversight of major federal health appointments.
Monarez had been serving as acting director since January, following the abrupt withdrawal of President Donald Trump’s original nominee, David Weldon. Her nomination was announced in March amid rising tension within the CDC, which has faced major staffing cuts, high-level resignations and ongoing controversy over revised vaccination policies.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of vaccine mandates and a vocal skeptic of traditional immunization schedules, has played a strong role in those policy changes. Kennedy’s leadership at HHS has prompted significant shifts in CDC practices, including changes in key personnel.
At her confirmation hearing, Monarez expressed general support for vaccination and evidence-based public health practices but avoided direct answers when pressed on her collaboration with Kennedy and her stance on recent CDC reversals.
Monarez said she values vaccines and rigorous scientific evidence, but offered little detail on how she would handle ongoing tensions between career CDC scientists and political leadership at HHS.
Monarez holds a doctorate in microbiology and immunology from the University of Wisconsin and completed postdoctoral research at Stanford University. She built her reputation in federal service through senior roles in health technology, national security, and biosecurity policy, including work at the Department of Defense and the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The CDC has been under renewed pressure to regain public trust after years of shifting guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by recent controversies surrounding the agency’s revised childhood vaccine schedule and its silence on several infectious disease outbreaks in underserved communities.
Monarez will now face the challenge of leading the agency through continued restructuring efforts. She is expected to share her early plans in a public address next week at CDC headquarters in Atlanta.