Who is Erica Schwartz, Trump's nominee to lead the CDC who was confirmed by the Senate?

The Senate confirmed Erica Schwartz as the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Schwartz was confirmed with 51 votes in favor and 44 against. Five senators did not vote, and Tim Kaine (D-VA) was the only Democrat to vote in favor.

The position of CDC director has seen little stability during the second Trump administration. In July 2025, Susan Monarez was confirmed by the Senate as director of the CDC. However, she lasted less than a month in the position and was fired in August. She was the president's second choice for the position, as she was nominated after former Congressman David Weldon failed to garner sufficient support among Senate Republicans.

Since Monarez's departure, the position has been filled first by Jim O'Neill and is currently being filled on an interim basis by Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

In April, Trump praised Schwartz as "an extraordinarily talented professional" and announced that she would be joined in her new role by Sean Slovenski, Jennifer Shuford, and Sara Brenner.

Who is Erica Schwartz?

Schwartz, who served for years in the Navy, has extensive experience in various sectors of the government. For example, she served as deputy director general of public health during the COVID-19 pandemic and worked for 24 years in the Public Health Service Commissioned Officers Corps.

In addition, she held various positions in the Coast Guard, including chief medical officer and chief of health services.

During her confirmation hearing, she highlighted the commitment to service that has characterized her family for years: "The most important thing to know about me is that I come from a God fearing military family. My father and my older sister were in the navy. My older brother was in the marines, and my younger brother was in the army. And I had the privilege of serving both in the navy and with the coast guard. For my family, service was not a job."

"I joined the United States Public Health Service and was detailed to the Coast Guard where I focus on forced health protection for responders to major national and global crises, including hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the twenty ten Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster, and the West Africa Ebola outbreak. In each of these moments, the men and women of the Coast Guard counted on me to get it right. There was no margin for error," she added.