WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, giving the nation’s top public health agency its first permanent leader in about a year.
Schwartz was approved by a 51-44 vote that largely followed party lines, although Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., joined Republicans in supporting the nomination. Kaine said last month he regretted voting against former CDC Director Susan Monarez and had apologized to her.
A former Navy physician and Coast Guard chief medical officer, Schwartz also served as deputy surgeon general during President Donald Trump’s first administration.
The CDC has been led by a succession of acting directors since August 2025, when Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed Monarez after just 29 days on the job. Schwartz succeeds Jay Bhattacharya, who has overseen the agency since February while simultaneously serving as director of the National Institutes of Health. Although federal law required the administration to nominate a permanent CDC director by March, Schwartz’s nomination was submitted a month later.
As director, Schwartz will oversee the nation’s public health response, including approving vaccine recommendations and managing disease outbreaks. She assumes leadership amid a growing measles crisis, with the United States reporting its highest case count in 35 years, as well as an expanding outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a parasitic infection linked to shredded iceberg lettuce.
Schwartz also faces the challenge of addressing rising vaccine hesitancy, which some public health experts say has been fueled by Kennedy’s rhetoric and policy decisions.
Widely viewed as a traditional choice for the role, Schwartz nevertheless drew criticism from some public health advocates during a Senate hearing last month. Although she affirmed that vaccines are safe and effective, critics said she failed to distance herself from several controversial positions associated with Kennedy. Schwartz said she was unaware of some recent vaccine policy changes and declined to state whether she supported them.
