ATLANTA — The Senate confirmed a new director for the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Erica Schwartz was confirmed in a 51-44 vote. The 54-year-old becomes the 22nd leader of the CDC, which is charged with protecting Americans from preventable health threats, and the agency’s first confirmed director in nearly a year.
Her resume includes medical and law degrees, a stint as deputy surgeon general, and a leadership position at the U.S. Coast Guard.
Schwartz’s nomination appeared to be on shaky ground after a hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee last month.
The chairman, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and others questioned whether she would be willing to stand up to Republican President Donald Trump’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., if he ordered CDC to do something unsupported by science and good public health practice.
But weeks later, Cassidy said he had spoken with Schwartz after that hearing and with others who knew her, and said he had gained confidence in her.
Largely due to layoffs and resignations, the CDC has lost 3,000-plus employees, more than one-quarter of its workforce.
Schwartz was the third Trump nominee for CDC director in the past 18 months.
The first was a former Florida congressman, Dr. David Weldon. His Senate hearing in March 2025 was canceled an hour before it was to begin. Weldon said at the time that he had been told not enough senators were willing to vote for him.
The White House then moved on to Susan Monarez, who had been serving as the CDC’s acting director. Monarez was confirmed by the Senate, but ousted from the job in less than a month. Trump administration officials said she was not aligned with the president’s agenda, so they terminated her.
Since then, there have been a series of HHS officials as acting CDC director.
The CDC position was one of several leadership vacancies among federal health agencies, including the U.S. surgeon general and the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
The Associated Press contributed to the report.
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