Failing up
Schwartz confirmed as CDC director after bungling confirmation hearing
Schwartz is well-qualified for the role, but crashed and burned in Senate hearing.
In a 51–44 vote Wednesday, the US Senate confirmed Erica Schwartz as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, despite failing miserably to convince senators last month that she could stand up to anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The confirmation ends a near yearlong vacancy for the position since Kennedy fired the previous CDC director, Susan Monarez, last August. Monarez was ousted after she refused to rubber-stamp vaccine recommendations from a panel of Kennedy’s hand-selected advisors, who hold similar anti-vaccine views to his own.
Schwartz is highly qualified for the role, coming to the CDC with a medical degree, a master’s degree in public health, and a law degree. She previously had a long stint as a Navy officer and held leadership roles including chief medical officer for the US Coast Guard and deputy surgeon general in the first Trump administration. Notably, she has been a public advocate for vaccines and outbreak preparedness.
As such, outside health experts were surprised by her selection and cautiously optimistic about her taking up the role. While Kennedy’s close anti-vaccine ally, Aaron Siri, blasted her nomination over her support for vaccines, those in the health community held out hope that Schwartz could stabilize and restore the flagging agency, demoralized and hampered by harsh staff reductions, budget cuts, and relentless scorn from Kennedy and his political appointees.
“Really?”
Those hopes were dashed during Schwartz’s confirmation hearing last month when she repeatedly failed to answer questions directly and say with conviction that she would push back on Kennedy’s anti-vaccine and anti-science agendas.
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Schwartz’s testimony came when senators repeatedly asked her what she would do if (or when) she’s put in the same position as Monarez. Schwartz responded as if it hadn’t happened and would never happen. “I do not believe that the president or the secretary would ever do what you just mentioned,” she told Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at one point, prompting him to reply: “Really?”
While senators expressed their disappointment with her responses, health experts dropped their endorsements.
Shortly after the hearing, the National Public Health Coalition, a nonprofit founded by former federal health workers, released a statement opposing her confirmation. “The public and Congress deserve a CDC Director who will follow the law, defend science, protect public health workers, and rebuild the systems that keep communities safe,” the organization said. “Based on what we saw during the Senate HELP Committee hearing on July 15, 2026, NPHC cannot support Dr. Schwartz’s nomination.”
Critical to Schwartz’s confirmation was support from self-proclaimed vaccine advocate Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who also cast a critical vote to confirm Kennedy as health secretary. While Cassidy called Schwartz’s performance in the confirmation hearing “disappointing,” he later said he had been reassured. He said he had spoken with her more after the hearing as well as with her former colleagues. “I’m confident that she knows what she is doing,” he said, according to Stat News.
