Protests Erupt at CDC Headquarters Amid Leadership Turmoil and Layoffs

Atlanta, GA – August 28, 2025

Hundreds of current and former employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gathered outside the agency’s Atlanta headquarters on Tuesday, August 26, in a powerful demonstration against recent leadership changes, mass layoffs, and perceived political interference in public health policy. The protest, marked by heavy rain and emotional speeches, follows a tumultuous month for the CDC, including a deadly shooting at its Roybal Campus and the controversial dismissal of Director Susan Monarez.

The demonstration was sparked by the abrupt firing of Monarez on August 27, just weeks after her Senate confirmation as the agency’s 21st director. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vocal vaccine skeptic, cited Monarez’s misalignment with the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda as the reason for her termination. Monarez, an infectious disease expert and the first CDC director without a medical degree, has contested the dismissal, with her legal team arguing that only the president has the authority to remove her. “She won’t leave her post unless the president himself terminates her,” her attorneys stated, escalating tensions with HHS leadership.

Adding fuel to the unrest, four senior CDC officials—Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Director Demetre Daskalakis, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Director Daniel Jernigan, and Office of Public Health Data Director Jennifer Layden—resigned in protest on August 28. The group cited concerns over Kennedy’s handling of vaccine policy and what they described as a “decline in scientific integrity” at the agency. Houry, addressing the crowd, declared, “We have reached the tipping point,” emphasizing the need to protect the CDC’s mission from political meddling.

Protesters, including dozens of public health workers, expressed despair over recent agency changes, including the layoff of approximately 600 employees, finalized this week after a federal court ruling allowed parts of Kennedy’s restructuring plan to proceed. The layoffs, affecting programs like the Division of Violence Prevention and the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, follow a broader cut of 2,400 CDC positions announced in March. Critics, including the American Federation of Government Employees, called the timing “cruel,” especially in the wake of the August 8 shooting that left a police officer dead and the campus riddled with over 500 bullets.

The shooting, carried out by 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White, who authorities say was motivated by distrust in COVID-19 vaccines, has intensified fears among CDC staff. A letter signed by over 750 current and former HHS employees, sent to Kennedy and Congress on August 20, linked the attack to inflammatory rhetoric and misinformation about vaccines, some of which they attribute to Kennedy himself. “The violent August 8th attack on CDC’s headquarters was not random,” the letter stated, urging Kennedy to stop spreading inaccurate health information.

Demonstrators also raised alarms over the dissolution of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and the CDC’s halted communications with the World Health Organization, ordered in January. These moves, protesters argue, undermine global health efforts, including responses to outbreaks like mpox and bird flu. “You are the people that protect America,” Daskalakis told the crowd, vowing to advocate for the agency’s workforce.Kennedy, responding to the protests, insisted he is committed to “fixing” the CDC, emphasizing a refocus on infectious disease programs and chronic disease prevention. An HHS spokesperson defended Kennedy, stating he “stands firmly with CDC employees,” and dismissed attempts to link his reforms to the shooting as politicizing a tragedy.

As the CDC braces for further budget cuts and a proposed reorganization that would transfer some programs to a new Administration for a Healthy America, the protests signal deep unrest within the public health community. With Monarez’s status unresolved and a new director yet to be named, the agency faces an uncertain path forward amidst ongoing demonstrations and a shaken workforce.

17GEN4.com

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