This will mark Trump’s third time choosing a CDC director during his second term. His first choice, former Florida Rep. David Weldon (R) failed to garner Senate support, and the nomination was pulled in March 2025.
Kennedy fired former director Susan Monarez in August after less than a month amid disagreements over vaccines.
“Erica graduated from Brown University for College and Medical School, and served a distinguished career as a Doctor of Medicine in the United States Military, the Greatest and Most Powerful Force in the World, and then served as my Deputy Surgeon General during my First Term. She is a STAR!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Schartz was previously the deputy surgeon general during Trump’s first term as well as a rear admiral for the U.S. Public Health Service and Chief Medical Officer for the U.S. Coast Guard.
A career civil servant, Schwartz has no clear ties to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his Make America Healthy Again movement. Her nomination comes as the Trump administration is trying to tamp down rhetoric about controversial vaccine policy changes ahead of the midterm elections.
“It’s gotten applause from both Republicans and Democrats,” Kennedy said about the pick during a House hearing Thursday. “This new team is really going to be able to revolutionize CDC and get it back on track.”
Since Monarez’s firing, the Trump administration has cycled through two acting CDC director, Jim O’Neill and National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya.
But the 210-day federal limit for leaving a Senate-confirmed position vacant recently passed, leaving a leadership vacuum at the agency once again.
The leadership vacuum and chaos atop the CDC led to a serious drop in staff morale. Kennedy said he thinks the new leadership will help stabilize the agency.
“Morale is much better than it was a year ago. I think a year ago, it was really at a nadir. You know, during all the [reductions in force],” Kennedy said.
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