Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez’s lawyers rejected her firing by the Trump administration, arguing that only President Donald Trump himself could fire her.

Monarez surprised many earlier on Wednesday when her lawyers rebuffed reports that she had resigned, saying she would not do so. Later that evening, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that Monarez was “no longer” head of the CDC, after a protracted disagreement with HHS Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy. In a statement early Thursday morning, Monarez’s lawyers once again rebuffed the White House after it said she had been “terminated.”

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