The Senate on Wednesday approved Erica Schwartz as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by a 51-44 vote, officially filling a post that had been unoccupied by a permanent leader for nearly a year.
Schwartz is the first confirmed, permanent director since Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed the previous CDC head in August 2025 following a dispute over immunization policy. In the interim the Atlanta-based agency has been run by a sequence of acting directors, most recently National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya.
Her nomination endured an uncertain path after testimony before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee last month. Committee chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy and other senators pressed Schwartz on whether she would challenge orders from Secretary Kennedy that they considered not to be grounded in science and established public health practice.
Following the hearing, Cassidy said he held further conversations with Schwartz and with others familiar with her record, which increased his confidence in her nomination. At the confirmation hearing, members of the Senate questioned Schwartz about her capacity to preserve agency autonomy in the face of Kennedy's influence over vaccine strategy and staffing decisions.
The CDC has experienced substantial personnel losses since the change in administration late last year. More than 3,000 employees have left through a combination of layoffs and resignations - a reduction that the article notes equals over one-quarter of the agency's workforce. New senior CDC leaders have pledged to reverse those staffing cuts and increase personnel levels, Bloomberg previously reported.
Schwartz's confirmation brings an end to the period of acting leadership and places a confirmed director at the helm as the agency addresses questions raised during the confirmation process and works to rebuild its ranks. Areas of focus raised during the Senate review included vaccine policy independence and the agency's ability to manage personnel decisions without undue external influence.
Summary
Erica Schwartz was confirmed 51-44 as CDC director, filling a vacancy that persisted after the prior director was fired by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in August 2025. Her nomination was scrutinized over potential conflicts with Kennedy on vaccine policy and personnel matters. The agency has lost over 3,000 staff since last year; new CDC leaders have pledged to restore staffing levels.