The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz as the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, giving the Atlanta-based public health agency its first full-time leader in nearly a year.
Schwartz was confirmed in a 51-44 party-line vote.
The 54-year-old will become the 22nd leader of the CDC, which is responsible for protecting Americans from public health threats.
Schwartz will inherit the CDC as it faces the largest foodborne illness outbreak in recent years, the worst US measles resurgence in 30 years, and an international Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
Schwartz will be the first permanent CDC director since Susan Monarez, who was fired by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last year — just a month into her tenure — after arguments over vaccine policy.
President Donald Trump previously nominated two other picks after Monarez was fired, but withdrew their names before hearings and voting even began.
The CDC has been hit with layoffs and resignations since Trump entered his second administration. The agency has lost over 3,000 employees — more than a quarter of its workforce.
Trump nominated Schwartz in April, calling her a “highly respected” doctor that has the “knowledge, experience, and TOP degree[s] to restore the GOLD STANDARD OF SCIENCE at the CDC.”
Schwartz has prior experience as Chief Medical Officer at the US Coast Guard, a stint as a deputy surgeon general, and degrees in both medicine and law.
However, at first, some senators couldn’t fully get behind Schwartz during her testimony last month.
In July, Schwartz testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, where senators questioned if would be able to stand up to Kennedy, who has controversial views on vaccines, autism and health policy.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) asked Schwartz if she would be able to dismiss Kennedy’s orders if he told the CDC something that was unsupported by science and good public health practice.
Cassidy’s opinion changed after speaking to Schwartz privately last week.
“I’m confident that she knows what she is doing and will stand against those who do not,” Cassidy said.
Cassidy’s support was needed to move forward with the nomination process.
On the other side of the aisle, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has expressed deep opposition to the nomination.
“The issue at hand is not complicated,” Sanders said. “Will we have people in the Trump administration who have the guts to stand up to people who are anti-science and into conspiracy theories?”
Schwartz pledged at her hearing to “never betray science,” but declined to dissent from some of the actions Kennedy has taken.
While Kennedy had previously vowed not to change the nation’s vaccination schedule, he later attempted a substantial rewrite of the recommended shots for kids.
Cassidy has been a prominent doubter of Kennedy since Trump picked him as Health Secretary.
