WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has nominated Dr. Erica Schwartz, a former deputy surgeon general who has publicly supported vaccines, to serve as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, filling a position that has remained largely vacant for more than eight months amid political turmoil over vaccine policy.
Trump announced the nomination in a social media post on Thursday, describing Schwartz as “incredibly talented” and “a STAR!” If confirmed by the Senate, Schwartz would become the agency’s fourth leader in just over a year, following the ouster of former director Susan Monarez in August 2025 following clashes with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy.
Schwartz, a retired rear admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, holds medical and law degrees as well as a master’s in public health. She served 24 years in the Commissioned Corps and ran the federal government’s Covid-19 testing program during Trump’s first term.
“She’s not a wallflower, and she’s not afraid to speak truth to power,” Dr. Brett Giroir, a former assistant secretary of health, told The New York Times. “She’s really wicked smart, and is not subject to rumor and conspiracy theories.”
The nomination comes as the Trump administration simultaneously announced other senior appointments, including Sean Slovenski as CDC deputy director and chief operating officer, Dr. Jennifer Shuford as deputy director and chief medical officer, and Dr. Sara Brenner as senior counselor for public health to Kennedy.
The CDC has been without a Senate-confirmed director for all but 29 days of the second Trump administration. Monarez was fired in August after she refused to accept vaccine policy recommendations from a new advisory panel Kennedy had appointed, according to an op-ed she wrote in the Wall Street Journal. Several key CDC scientific leaders resigned in protest following her dismissal.
Kennedy, appearing before a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Thursday, said the new CDC team was “extraordinary” and that he looked forward to working with Schwartz “to restore trust, accountability, and scientific integrity at the CDC”.
However, the nomination has drawn criticism from some of Kennedy’s allies. Aaron Siri, a lawyer who has worked with Kennedy on vaccine-related litigation, wrote on social media that Schwartz “lacks the basic ethics and morals to lead the CDC” due to her past promotion of vaccinations.
Schwartz’s nomination requires Senate confirmation. No date for a confirmation hearing has been announced.
