A former top federal health official is accusing the Trump administration of purging science in favor of politics — and punishing her for refusing to go along.

Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has filed a sweeping federal lawsuit alleging she was unlawfully fired in retaliation for opposing what she describes as “reckless” and ideologically driven actions by the administration.

In a 31-page complaint filed in federal court in Maryland, Marrazzo claims that when President Donald Trump returned to office in January and installed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as head of the Department of Health and Human Services, scientific integrity inside the nation’s public health apparatus began to collapse.

According to the filing, “unscientific and unsupported political biases” replaced evidence-based decision-making, with devastating consequences for public health research.

Marrazzo was appointed director of NIAID in August 2023, succeeding Dr. Anthony Fauci. Her lawsuit says she was widely praised by the scientific community and earned the highest possible performance evaluations during her tenure.

That changed, she alleges, once new leadership took control of HHS and the National Institutes of Health.

Her complaint accuses the administration of censoring research, undermining NIH’s mission, and advancing an anti-vaccine agenda that contradicted “decades of incontrovertible scientific evidence.” She also points to the mass cancellation of research grants that referenced “diversity,” “equity,” or “inclusion,” decisions she says were politically motivated and posed “a substantial and specific danger to public health and safety.”

Those cuts, Marrazzo argues, disproportionately gutted infectious disease research — the very area NIAID exists to oversee.

Rather than stay silent, Marrazzo says she became a whistleblower. She objected repeatedly to what she saw as censorship and abuse of authority, raising concerns internally through emails, meetings, and conversations with senior officials at NIH and HHS.

That opposition, she claims, triggered retaliation.

Marrazzo says she was abruptly removed from her role as NIAID director and placed on administrative leave, with the stated intention of reassigning her to the Indian Health Service. She says that reassignment never materialized. Instead, she was barred from NIH facilities, cut off from equipment, and told not to return to work.

Still, she did not back down.

On Sept. 4, she filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Office of the Special Counsel, alleging retaliation for protected whistleblowing. She also spoke publicly with national media outlets, warning about what she described as the politicization of public health.

Weeks later, she says, the hammer fell.

On Sept. 26, Marrazzo received a letter from Kennedy formally terminating her employment.

Her lawsuit alleges multiple constitutional violations, including infringement of her First Amendment rights for firing her over protected speech, and a violation of her Fifth Amendment rights by terminating her without due process.

She is seeking reinstatement to her former position, along with back pay.

The complaint frames her case not just as a personal dispute, but as a broader warning about the state of American public health governance.

“HHS removed Dr. Marrazzo from her position as NIAID Director and terminated her employment because she raised concerns,” the lawsuit states, describing alleged violations ranging from gross mismanagement to censorship of scientific research. The filing argues her actions are protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act and the Constitution.

The Department of Health and Human Services has not yet publicly responded to the lawsuit.