Erica Schwartz confirmed as Trump CDC director after questioning on vaccines
The Senate confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz as the Director of the CDC, a position vacant for nearly a year, with a close vote of 51-43 along partisan lines. Schwartz, a veteran in public health and former deputy surgeon general, gained prominence for overseeing COVID-19 testing during the pandemic. Her confirmation process involved challenging questions from Democrats about her stance on vaccine policies and her potential resistance to directives from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy jr., who previously dismissed her predecessor. Schwartz’s nomination was supported mainly by Republicans and one Democrat, Tim Kaine. Her background contrasts with other trump governance officials and includes a career in the Public Health Service Commissioned corps. The article also touches on previous CDC leadership issues, including the brief tenure of her predecessor, Susan Monarez, who was ousted after refusing to preapprove vaccine schedule changes per Kennedy’s directives.
The Senate confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, along nearly partisan lines on Wednesday.
Schwartz, who was confirmed 51-43 after a turbulent confirmation hearing in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions last month, is slated to take office after the agency has been without a permanent leader for nearly a year.
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Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) was the only Democrat to support Schwartz’s nomination. Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Maize Hirono (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) did not vote.
Schwartz was deputy surgeon general during the first Trump administration, overseeing the COVID-19 testing program during the height of the pandemic. Prior to that, she had a distinguished career in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
Schwartz had a difficult time during her confirmation hearing answering questions from Democrats regarding whether she would stand up to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. regarding vaccine policy.
Kennedy fired her Senate-confirmed predecessor, Susan Monarez, roughly a month after taking office.
Monarez told the Senate health committee, following her termination, that she refused to follow Kennedy’s directive to preapprove changes to the childhood vaccine schedule before the meeting of the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
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Schwartz, who has a traditional public health background compared to other Trump administration officials chosen from within the Make America Healthy Again movement, told the Senate during her confirmation hearing that she did not believe that Kennedy would ask her to do something along similar lines.
Schwartz is the second CDC director to ever go through the Senate confirmation process. It was not a position that required Senate approval before the COVID-19 pandemic.
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