The U.S. Senate confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday in a 51-44 vote, ending roughly a year without a permanent leader at the Atlanta-based agency. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans; the rest of the tally fell mostly along party lines.
Schwartz, 54, becomes the 22nd CDC director. She holds degrees in both medicine and law, previously served as deputy surgeon general during President Trump's first term, and spent time as Chief Medical Officer at the U.S. Coast Guard. Trump nominated her in April, describing her as a 'highly respected' doctor with the 'knowledge, experience, and TOP degree[s] to restore the GOLD STANDARD OF SCIENCE at the CDC.'
She is the third nominee Trump put forward for the post in roughly 18 months. Her predecessor, Dr. Susan Monarez, was fired by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after less than a month on the job over disputes regarding vaccine policy. Two subsequent nominees were withdrawn before hearings or votes were held.
The confirmation was not straightforward. At a July hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) — a physician and committee chairman — pressed Schwartz on whether she would resist pressure from Kennedy on scientific matters. Cassidy later said a private conversation changed his assessment. 'I am confident that she knows what she is doing and will stand against those who do not,' he said, adding that he looks forward to working with her to 'protect children's health and regain trust in the CDC.'
Schwartz told the committee: 'As CDC director, my sacred responsibility is to provide the American people with public health guidance that is clear, honest and evidence based. I will never betray the science.' She confirmed at the hearing that vaccines are safe and effective.
The agency she steps into has shed more than 3,000 employees — over a quarter of its workforce — through layoffs and resignations since Trump began his second term. She will face the worst measles resurgence in 30 years, an active cyclospora outbreak, and an international Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, according to the sources.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) voted against confirmation. 'The issue at hand is not complicated,' he said. 'Will we have people in the Trump administration who have the guts to stand up to people who are anti-science and into conspiracy theories?' The National Public Health Coalition, an organization of former and current CDC workers, said Schwartz's July testimony left too many commitments 'incomplete, vague or missing,' though it acknowledged Wednesday that 'CDC needs a Director who will protect public health workers' and 'defend evidence-based guidance.'
CEO Times take: The CDC confirmation saga is a case study in what bureaucratic instability costs the American taxpayer. Three nominees, a year of acting leadership, and a quarter of the workforce gone — that is not a public health posture, it is an institutional liability. Schwartz arrives with a credentialed record and a clear pledge to follow the science. The market for public trust in federal health agencies is already deeply discounted; she has both the opportunity and the obligation to rebuild it on merit, not politics. Capital — and public confidence — rewards clear rules and accountable leadership. The next measles season will be the first real test of whether this confirmation was worth the wait.
