US President Donald Trump has appointed Erica Schwartz, who was Deputy Director General of Public Health in his first Administration, as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In a post on his social media, Trump described Schwartz, a veteran military doctor, as “incredibly talented.” “She is a STAR!” he emphasized with his usual emphatic capital letters while simultaneously announcing the nomination of Sean Slovenski as deputy director. If Schwartz is confirmed by the Senate, she will become the fourth head of the agency in just over a year.
Read more Wildfires in Mexico increase in 2026
The CDC, based in Atlanta, is one of a dozen agencies under the Department of Health, and is responsible for protecting Americans from preventable health threats, such as the coronavirus in its day, when they served as a roadmap to establish recommendations and prophylaxis, including the first vaccination campaign, as well as data on transmission and prevalence of the virus and its variants. But that crucial role has become turmoil and instability since Trump assumed the presidency for the second time in January 2025, with a succession of mostly interim chiefs.
The agency is under the supervision of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who had promised not to change the national vaccination schedule. However, shortly after taking office, Kennedy, a conspicuous anti-vaxxer, announced his intention to question the childhood vaccination schedule with a substantial review of immunization recommendations. A federal judge temporarily suspended some of those initiatives in March.
The Trump Administration’s first choice to lead the CDC was former Florida Congressman David Weldon; however, his confirmation hearing before the Senate, scheduled for March 2025, was canceled an hour before it was to begin. At that time, Weldon, who is a physician by profession, said he had been informed that there were not enough senators willing to vote in his favor.
Next was Susan Monarez, who served as interim director of the CDC. Monarez was confirmed by the Senate but was dismissed in less than a month for not sharing the same line of action in Kennedy’s vaccination policy.
Several key members of the CDC’s scientific committee resigned in protest, stating that Monarez’s dismissal dashed their hopes that an agency director could safeguard CDC scientific research and health recommendations from political interference. Since then, there has been a constant back and forth at the agency’s top, with the interim director position passing from one official to another. The director of the National Institutes of Health, Jay Bhattacharya, has been overseeing the CDC in recent weeks.
During a House Appropriations Committee hearing held on Thursday, Kennedy described the new team leading the CDC as extraordinary. “I think this new team will really be able to revolutionize the CDC and get it back on track,” he said.
Schwartz’s nomination comes at a time when Casey Means — the candidate chosen by Trump for another key health position, that of US Surgeon General — has struggled to secure confirmation. The stalemate over Means’s nomination — after appearing at a confirmation hearing in February — reflects the skepticism that legislators from both parties have expressed about the direction Kennedy has taken his department.
Under his leadership, the CDC has undergone radical changes, including mass layoffs and a restructuring that, according to him, helped reduce “bureaucratic expansion.” Kennedy has become a target of criticism from scientists for his unorthodox views on public health issues. Last year, he canceled funding for 22 vaccine development projects, a $500 million investment to develop messenger RNA-based drugs that could reach the entire world.
Schwartz worked for 24 years in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and holds a medical degree from Brown University and a law degree from the University of Maryland.
Read more El Rayo shows its courage in Athens and reaches historic European semifinals