Senate Confirms Dr. Erica Schwartz as New CDC Director
The Senate has confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, giving the agency its first permanent leader in nearly a year and making her the first Black woman to hold the role.
Schwartz was confirmed Wednesday in a 51-44 vote that fell almost entirely along party lines, with Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., the only Democrat to vote in her favor. Kaine has said he regretted voting against the previous CDC director, Susan Monarez, and had personally apologized to her. Schwartz, 54, becomes the CDC's 22nd director. She takes over from Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who has led the agency on an acting basis since February while simultaneously directing the National Institutes of Health.
A Career Spanning Medicine, Law and Military Service
Schwartz earned a medical degree from Brown University and served in the U.S. Navy until 2005 before moving into the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. She went on to serve as chief medical officer for the U.S. Coast Guard and as deputy surgeon general from 2019 to early 2021 during President Trump's first term. President Trump nominated her for the CDC role in April, calling her "incredibly talented."
CNN described Schwartz's record as a notable departure from other candidates the administration had considered, several of whom aligned closely with the "Make America Healthy Again" movement. Schwartz, by contrast, has a lengthy record guiding vaccination programs and public health crisis responses, in contrast to Trump's original pick to lead the CDC in his second term, whose nomination was withdrawn after concerns emerged that his vaccine skepticism would prevent him from being confirmed.
A Rocky Path to Confirmation
During her July 15 confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Schwartz faced pointed questions about vaccine policy and her ability to lead the agency independently. Committee chair Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., pressed her directly. "We need a CDC director that will actually stand up to crazy, stupid things being said that undermine faith in immunization," Cassidy said during the hearing. Schwartz responded that she would lead with integrity and would "never compromise on the science," though Cassidy said her answers were "not quite the direct answer" he'd hoped for.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., asked Schwartz whether she would remove a CDC webpage, updated last November, addressing autism and vaccines. Schwartz said she accepted there is "overwhelming evidence" that vaccines don't cause autism but did not commit to taking the page down. Cassidy ultimately voted to support her nomination after the page was modified to address his concerns.
When asked how she would respond if Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pressured her to approve recommendations without scientific backing, as he did with Monarez, Schwartz said Kennedy would never make such a request of her. Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, was skeptical of that answer. "That seemed to me like an evasion," he said, adding that "her performance came up far short" of easing broader concerns within the public health community.
An Agency in Turmoil
Schwartz inherits a CDC that has lost more than a quarter of its workforce through layoffs and resignations since the start of the second Trump administration, alongside sharply diminished staff morale. She also takes over amid several active public health challenges, including the country's worst measles outbreak in 35 years, a growing cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to contaminated lettuce, and an ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, a former senior CDC official who resigned last August, offered a measured take on Schwartz's road ahead. "I really wish her luck in her new role," he told NPR. "But I would also say, it's not about the job, it's about the public health mission, and that needs to be her focus."
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