Erica Schwartz CDC Nomination: What You Need to Know

Erica Schwartz’s nomination comes after a stretch of CDC leadership turnover, including the brief tenure of Susan Monarez and interim oversight by NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya.

US President Donald Trump has nominated Erica Schwartz, MD, JD, MPH, to serve as Director of the CDC, a role that requires Senate confirmation. The nomination comes after months of leadership changes at the agency.

Trump announced Schwartz as his choice for the post on April 16. Reuters and AP News reported that Schwartz previously served as Deputy Surgeon General during Trump’s first administration and spent more than two decades in the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. 

She also has training in medicine, law and public health, bringing a mix of clinical and policy experience to the role. AP News also reported that she served as a rear admiral in the Coast Guard.

Her nomination comes after a period of leadership instability at the CDC. According to Reuters, former CDC Director Susan Monarez was dismissed on August 28, 2025, following disagreements with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy. Jim O’Neill briefly led the agency before Jay Bhattacharya assumed the role on an interim basis.

The current nomination also follows earlier unsuccessful attempts to fill the position. Former Florida congressman Dave Weldon did not advance as a candidate, and Monarez — who had been serving as Acting Director — was nominated but removed less than a month into the role.

Trump also announced additional CDC leadership appointments alongside Schwartz. Sean Slovenski was named Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer, Jennifer Shuford was selected as Deputy Director and Chief Medical Officer and Sara Brenner was named Senior Counselor for Public Health.

Vaccine policy remains a point of tension within HHS and CDC leadership. A federal judge in Boston blocked major parts of Kennedy’s March 2026 effort to reshape federal vaccine policy, including changes affecting childhood vaccine recommendations and the structure of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP. The ACIP advises the CDC Director and HHS Secretary on the use of vaccines in the civilian population.

Recently, during House hearings on the HHS budget, lawmakers questioned Kennedy over his handling of measles outbreaks, recent vaccine-policy changes and proposed funding cuts to the department. NBC News shared that the administration’s budget request would reduce HHS funding by $15.8 billion, to $111.1 billion, while lawmakers also pressed Kennedy on the scale of the current measles resurgence.

Schwartz’s nomination now heads to the Senate, where lawmakers will decide whether to confirm her as the next permanent head of the CDC.

How Is the CDC Responding to Recent Measles Outbreaks in the US?

The CDC has been involved in supporting measles outbreak response efforts in South Carolina and North Carolina. The agency said it was working with both states, deploying Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, providing lab testing and genomic sequencing support, assisting with case classification and outbreak response planning and making vaccines available on request. 

The agency also said Bhattacharya joined a national webinar with more than 2,000 public health partners and emphasized MMR vaccination as the most effective way to prevent measles and reduce spread. CDC staff were being sent to South Carolina as the state faced its largest measles outbreak in decades.

HHS and CDC have also announced two new appointments to ACIP on February 27. The new members were Sean Downing, an internal medicine and pediatrics physician, and Angelina Farella, a Texas pediatrician.