Rear Admiral Erica G. Schwartz.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated Erica Schwartz to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, concluding a months-long effort to choose a permanent leader of the embattled health agency.
Schwartz, who will need to be confirmed by the Senate, would assume the role of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., overseeing a series of controversial health policy changes at the agency, including an overhaul of childhood vaccine recommendations.
Schwartz served as deputy surgeon general in the first Trump administration, where she played a major role in the U.S. response to the Covid-19 pandemic. She spent more than 20 years in uniform, including serving as a Rear Admiral and Surgeon General of the Coast Guard.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya was acting director of the CDC — a title that expired last month under federal law. This law, called the Vacancies Act, limits to 210 days the length of time an acting officer can replace a Senate-confirmed official.
As of late last month, 210 days have passed since the last CDC director, Dr. Susan Monarez, was fired.
A sign stands outside the Roybal campus of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, March 18, 2026.
Megan Varner | Reuters
She has so far been the only person to serve as confirmed CDC director during Trump’s second term, serving in the role for less than a month last summer. During congressional testimony in September, Monarez said she was fired after refusing Kennedy’s requests to approve vaccine recommendations that she said lacked scientific support.
It’s unclear how Schwartz’s views on vaccines or other key public health policies compare to Kennedy’s.
Also Thursday, Trump said he had chosen Sean Slovenski as CDC deputy director and chief operating officer, and Jennifer Shuford as CDC deputy director and chief medical officer. Shuford, as head of the Texas Department of State Health Services, led the state’s response to a massive measles outbreak last year and credited vaccination and testing for ending the outbreak.
Schwartz’s appointment comes after several tumultuous months for the agency, which has been reeling from leadership upheaval, plummeting morale, significant staff turnover and controversial changes in U.S. vaccine policy. Before leaders left last year, staff members were shaken by a gunman’s attack on CDC headquarters in Atlanta on Aug. 8.
Last month, a judge blocked efforts by a critical vaccine panel to overhaul U.S. vaccination policy. This includes an effort to reduce the number of vaccines recommended for children from 17 to 11.
Trust in federal health agencies fell during Kennedy’s tenure as secretary of Health and Human Services, according to a February poll by health policy research group KFF, with declines across the political spectrum.