President Donald Trump on Thursday afternoon nominated Dr. Erica Schwartz to be the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after months without a permanent director at the helm of the public health agency.
Schwartz, who served as Trump’s Deputy Surgeon General during his first term, does not have any apparent ties with the broader Make America Healthy Again Movement, nor does she have a history of opposing vaccines.
The CDC has been without an official director since last August, when the president’s appointee Susan Monarez was fired following a public clash with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy.
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Since then, it has reportedly been difficult for the White House to fill the post, as most candidates who could pass through Senate confirmation disagree with Kennedy’s history of anti-vaccine advocacy.
Schwartz, a Coast Guard rear admiral, served in the Public Health Services Commission Corps for 24 years. She earned her medical degree from Brown University in 1998 and holds a master’s degree in public health from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences.
Trump called Schwartz “incredibly talented” and “a STAR” in a Truth Social post announcing her selection.
The move is likely to settle the monthslong turmoil at the CDC since Kennedy clashed with Monarez less than a month after she assumed office following her Senate confirmation.
Monarez testified before the Senate in an oversight hearing after her firing that she was terminated because she refused to rubber-stamp Kennedy’s requests to slim down the childhood vaccine schedule.
CDC has been overseen by an acting director since August, well past the 210-day statutory limit.
Earlier this spring, National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya was appointed to oversee the CDC on an acting basis. Bhattacharya has reportedly said in private that it was unfeasible for him to oversee both agencies.
The White House had reportedly taken measures to rein in Kennedy’s work on vaccine policy ahead of the 2026 midterm election season.
Schwartz’s public health experience and long-term government service make her more like CDC directors in other administrations but unlike other Trump public health picks, such as wellness influencer and Surgeon General nominee Dr. Casey Means.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Schwartz led the federal government’s testing programs, establishing drive-through testing sites and ordering COVID tests.
Brett Giroir, who served as Schwartz’s superior as the Assistant Secretary for Health under Trump’s first term, called the new CDC nominee “outstanding in every way” in his memoir on the pandemic.
“Rear Admiral Schwartz became the physician responsible for ordering millions of tests across the country — undoubtedly the highest number of tests ordered by any single physician in the United States, if not the world,” Giroir said in his book.
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The president also nominated Sean Slovenski for CDC Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Jennifer Shuford for CDC Chief Medical Officer, and Dr. Sara Brenner for senior counselor for public health, reporting to Kennedy.
The new leadership team will replace the several former CDC employees who resigned after Monarez’s firing, including the former infectious disease lead at CDC, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis.
Daskalakis praised the CDC’s new leadership team, telling NBC it has “great potential if political interference and the self interest of the secretary of health doesn’t hamper their ability to deliver for the health of the country.”
Trump said in his Truth Social post that his new appointees “will do a TREMENDOUS job leading the CDC as we continue to MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AND GREAT AGAIN!”
Kennedy, who was testifying in the House of Representatives while Trump made the announcement, posted on X a statement of praise for Schwartz and the new team at CDC.
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“I look forward to working together to restore trust, accountability, and scientific integrity at the [CDC] so we can return it to its core mission and Make America Healthy Again,” Kennedy posted.
Schwartz will have to undergo a confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee and be voted on by the full Senate before assuming office.
