Erica Schwartz, MD, was confirmed by the Senate as the next CDC director Aug. 5 in a 51-43 vote, which split almost entirely across party lines. The move makes her the agency’s first permanent director in nearly a year.
Every present Republican senator backed Dr. Schwartz, who received a single Democratic vote from Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia. Independents Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont voted no.
Six senators did not vote at all: Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C.
During her July 15 confirmation hearing, Dr. Schwartz promised to pursue scientific integrity and transparency, should she be confirmed. She also said vaccines were effective and safe during the hearing, but dodged certain questions on supporting HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine policy changes, NBC News reported.
“If confirmed, my first priority will be restoring trust in public health institutions through radical transparency and unwavering scientific integrity,” Dr. Schwartz said. “As CDC director, my sacred responsibility is to provide the American people with public health guidance that is clear, honest and evidence based. I will never betray the science.”
Here are six things to know:
1. On July 30, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted 12-11 to support a full Senate vote on three of President Donald Trump’s administration nominees: Dr. Schwartz, Sean Kaufman for HHS assistant secretary for preparedness and response and Keith Sonderling for secretary of labor.
2. Dr. Schwartz will succeed Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, director of the NIH, who led the CDC since February in an interim capacity. Susan Monarez, PhD, was fired abruptly from her role as CDC director Aug. 27, 2025, after refusing to resign.
Dr. Monarez was confirmed into the role July 29. After serving as acting CDC director since January 2025 when President Trump nominated her in March on the heels of withdrawing his nomination for David Weldon, MD, hours before his first confirmation hearing.
“I am pleased to announce the new leadership of the [CDC],” President Trump said in an April 16 Truth Social post. “It is my Honor to nominate the incredibly talented Dr. Erica Schwartz, MD, JD, MPH, as my Director of the CDC … She is a star!”
3. Dr. Schwartz served as president of insurance solutions at UnitedHealthcare until her confirmation, and said she would leave the role as well as board seats at Butterfly Network and Aveanna Healthcare if confirmed. She served as deputy surgeon general for HHS from March to April 2019 under President Trump, according to the Butterfly Network’s website.
4. Dr. Schwartz also spent 24 years in uniformed service, where she was promoted to rear admiral of the U.S. Coast Guard and served as the CMO and director of health, safety and work life from 2015 to 2019. She also served as the U.S. Coast Guard’s chief of health services from 2013 to 2015 and preventative medicine chief from 2005 to 2013.
5. She received a bachelor of science degree in biomedical engineering from Providence, R.I.-based Brown University, her MD from Brown University School of Medicine, a master of public health degree with a dual concentration in health services administration and occupational and environmental medicine from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and a juris doctorate from the University of Maryland School of Law.
6. As CDC director, Dr. Schwartz will take on a growing cyclosporiasis outbreak, which has sickened more than 18,000 people in 2026 and left two dead in Michigan. She will also oversee the ongoing rise in measles cases, which reached 2,318 as of July 23, ahead of the 2,289 reported for the full 2025 calendar year.
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