← Back to all diffs
NPR

CDC director nominee Erica Schwartz faces Senate for confirmation hearing

View original article →
+701 words added -486 words removed
Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
− Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics CDC director nominee Erica Schwartz faces Senate for confirmation hearing Trump's nominee faces the Senate health committee for her confirmation hearing on July 15.
+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics CDC director nominee Erica Schwartz faced questions in Senate hearing Trump's nominee faces the Senate health committee for her confirmation hearing on July 15.
If confirmed, she will lead an agency dealing with workforce and leadership shortages and new layers of political review.
− Health CDC director nominee Erica Schwartz faces Senate for confirmation hearing July 15, 20265:00 AM ET Pien Huang Dr.
+ Health CDC director nominee Erica Schwartz faced questions in Senate hearing Updated July 15, 20262:49 PM ET Originally published July 15, 20265:00 AM ET Heard on All Things Considered Pien Huang Dr.
Erica Schwartz faces a Senate confirmation hearing for the role of CDC director.
− U.S.
+ Finn Gomez/Getty Images hide caption Dr.
− Department of Health and Human Services hide caption Dr. Erica Schwartz, Trump's latest nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is scheduled to appear before a Senate committee Wednesday morning to answer questions about her vision and qualifications for the role.
+ Erica Schwartz, Trump's latest nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was grilled by a Senate committee Wednesday morning about her vision and qualifications for the role.
− The confirmation hearing, with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, will be Schwartz's first public appearance since Trump nominated her for the role in mid-April.
+ The confirmation hearing, with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, was Schwartz's first public appearance since Trump nominated her for the role in mid-April. "If confirmed, my first priority will be restoring trust in public health institutions through radical transparency and unwavering scientific integrity," Schwartz said, "As CDC director, my sacred responsibility is to provide the American people with public health guidance that is clear, honest and evidence based.
− Schwartz is Trump's third nominee to lead the nation's beleaguered public health agency, which has not had a permanent director for most of Trump's second term in office.
+ I will never betray the science." Schwartz is Trump's third nominee to lead the nation's beleaguered public health agency, which has not had a permanent director for most of Trump's second term in office.
Health Trump nominates former Coast Guard doctor as CDC chief If confirmed, Schwartz will work under Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC. Schwartz is a retired rear admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, with degrees in medicine, law and public health. She previously served as chief medical officer of the U.S. Coast Guard and as deputy surgeon general in the first Trump administration.
− Earlier this year, on Instagram, Schwartz voiced her support for vaccines as tools to prevent illness and promote readiness in the military.
+ Republicans and Democrats on the Senate HELP committee praised her qualifications.
− (Her Instagram page was removed soon after she was nominated for the CDC director role.) Public health veterans say she has the credentials and experience for the job. "People are very optimistic about her candidacy and are supportive of her potentially being in the role," says Dr. Marcus Plescia, district health director for Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, where the CDC is headquartered.
+ She also faced tough questions on how she would navigate potential disagreements with Kennedy, and how she would stand up for science when faced with challenging political directives.
− Health Federal judge halts RFK Jr.'s changes to children's vaccine policies "What we really need right now is a CDC director who can step in and be a spokesperson on some of the emerging issues we're facing," says Plescia.
+ "While I think you are immensely qualified, I am very, very concerned that even qualified people have either had to change their positions or quit," said Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del.
− "We need somebody in that position who can get in and establish themselves and be there to stay." Schwartz is generally expected to clear the Senate confirmation process. However, the role comes with major challenges and pitfalls.
+ "I wish us all luck on our public health at the moment." Stay up to date with our Politics newsletter, sent weekly.
− Stay up to date with our Politics newsletter, sent weekly.
+ The role comes with major challenges and pitfalls.
− Health Secretary Kennedy came into office with an agenda to change vaccine policy.
+ Health secretary Kennedy came into office with an agenda to change vaccine policy. In recent months, Kennedy's changes have largely been blocked by a federal judge, but the intention remains, Dr.
− In recent months, his changes have largely been blocked by a federal judge, but the intention remains, Dr.
Georges Benjamin, head of the American Public Health Association, told NPR. "The political agenda is still there," he says.
− Still, the political winds have shifted a bit.
+ Health Federal judge halts RFK Jr.'s changes to children's vaccine policies Still, the political winds have shifted a bit.
"The president said he was going to let the secretary go wild, and he did.
− He's now had to pull him back because it is creating political damage." Benjamin says it may give the next CDC leader some space to follow the evidence with less political interference.
+ He's now had to pull him back because it is creating political damage," Benjamin says, adding that it may give the next CDC leader some space to follow the evidence with less political interference.
+ Earlier this year, on Instagram, Schwartz voiced her support for vaccines as tools to prevent illness and promote readiness in the military. (Her Instagram page was removed soon after she was nominated for the CDC director role.) The HELP committee will now decide whether to advance Schwartz's nomination for a full Senate vote. She is expected to clear the Senate confirmation process.
Trump's first pick for CDC head was Dr. Dave Weldon; his nomination was withdrawn shortly before his confirmation hearing because he did not have the votes to pass. Trump's second pick, Susan Monarez, received Senate confirmation but served in the role for less than a month last summer before she was fired by Kennedy. The next director would be tasked with turning around a CDC that's been through an exceptionally tough period, including facing pressure to bend to political directives and cuts to staffing and capacity while needing to respond to pressing outbreaks on several fronts. A recent trove of internal CDC emails, released by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, shed insights into Monarez's brief, rocky tenure and the chaotic months preceding it. They show select, high-level exchanges between top CDC officials during a tumultuous period from January through August 2025, as the CDC lost thousands of staffers to cuts and attrition, faced public criticism from Secretary Kennedy, upended typical procedures and adjusted to new levels of political oversight. The last director lacked autonomy in making policy and hiring decisions. For instance, on Aug. 19, 2025, Matt Buckham, then chief-of-staff to Secretary Kennedy, sent an email to Susan Monarez, the recently confirmed CDC director. "I wanted to elevate the absolute need for political review of major policy decisions at CDC," by the immediate office of the secretary and political leadership at CDC, he wrote. "Please err on the side of caution," he wrote, before signing off with "Make America Great!" Other exchanges chronicled confusion from HHS over who was leading the CDC, the pervasive disorganization around reductions in force, and how Kennedy's delegates worked to direct vaccine policy outcomes against the legal and scientific advice of CDC scientists and general counsel. In an internal CDC all-hands meeting last month, new leadership at the agency addressed the impacts of all that's happened on remaining employees. "I've heard a lot … from people about what the morale is like here, how we've gotten to a point where it's not as happy as it used to be, the stress level's extremely high," said Sean Slovenski, a former Walmart executive and now the CDC's deputy director and chief operating officer, in a recording of the meeting reviewed by NPR. NPR obtained this recording from a current CDC employee who asked to remain anonymous for fear of professional repercussions. "If any organization went through one of the things you've had to endure in the last year and a half, it would be traumatic to that organization, institution, for years to come. You've had multiple ones," he said. Slovenski pledged to proceed with an upcoming reorganization with care. "I'm not promising that everyone will be happy. What I'm promising is that everyone will be clear," he said.
− "Everyone will know what's coming and they'll know it was done in the most thoughtful manner." Wednesday's session also includes a confirmation hearing for Sean Kaufman, nominated by the White House to serve as the assistant secretary for strategic preparedness and response at HHS.
+ "Everyone will know what's coming and they'll know it was done in the most thoughtful manner." How Schwartz will navigate these challenges remains to be seen. But public health veterans say she has the credentials and experience to lead the agency. "People are very optimistic about her candidacy and are supportive of her potentially being in the role," says Dr. Marcus Plescia, district health director for Fulton County, which includes Atlanta where the CDC is headquartered.
+ "What we really need right now is a CDC director who can step in and be a spokesperson on some of the emerging issues we're facing," says Plescia, "We need somebody in that position who can get in and establish themselves and be there to stay." Wednesday's session also includes a confirmation hearing for Sean Kaufman, nominated by the White House to serve as the assistant secretary for strategic preparedness and response at HHS.
Kaufman is a senior adviser for global affairs at the CDC and has previously responded to infectious disease outbreaks including anthrax and West Nile virus. He has also served as an expert witness in multiple cases defending people who faced professional consequences for refusing COVID vaccines, according to his LinkedIn profile.
− Kaufman has questioned the safety and need for universal COVID-19 and hepatitis B vaccines.
+ Kaufman faced tough questions from Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La., over past statements and posts in which he supported canceling funding for mRNA vaccine development, questioned the safety and need for universal COVID and hepatitis B vaccines, and said he "hated" the CDC.
The head of ASPR oversees the development of vaccines and countermeasures against pandemics and emerging threats.
+ Kaufman confirmed that he had made these statements in the past, but said he was nonetheless currently supportive of vaccine research and the CDC.
Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor