CDC director refuses to leave after White House order

The director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) remains in a heated standoff with the Trump administration after the White House announced she had been fired.

Susan Monarez - who has only been in the job for a month - refused "to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives" and accused Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr of "weaponising public health", according to her lawyers.

Her lawyer insisted Dr Monarez's sacking was not legal and only President Donald Trump - not White House officials - could remove her.

The reason for her removal was that she was "not aligned with the president's agenda", the White House said in a statement.

At least three senior CDC leaders resigned from the agency, some citing frustration over vaccine policy and the leadership of Kennedy, also known as RFK Jr.

Among them was Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, who warned about the "rise of misinformation" about vaccines in a letter seen by the BBC's US partner CBS News. She also argued against planned cuts to the agency's budget.