At long last, some GOOD NEWS at the CDC! Erica Schwartz was confirmed as the new Director of the CDC.
Dr. Schwartz is the agency’s first permanent, Senate-confirmed leader in nearly a year, succeeding temporary leadership following the rapid ouster of former director Susan Monarez in August 2025.
Dr. Schwartz holds a medical degree from Brown University, an MPH from the Uniformed Services University, and a Juris Doctor (law degree) from the University of Maryland. Her listed medical specialty is Occupational Medicine. She has served in the US Coast Guard, the US Navy, the Public Health Service and as Deputy Surgeon General of the United States during the first Trump administration.
One of the biggest challenges she faces is that the CDC has lost more than a quarter of its workforce (over 3,000 employees) due to mass layoffs and resignations over the last 18 months. Morale at the agency is at an all time low and its standing as a world renown beacon of global Public Health leadership has faltered under Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy’s incompetence. Regaining it’s prestige will not come easily nor quickly.
Schwartz has pledged that her "sacred responsibility is to provide the American people with public health guidance that is clear, honest and evidence-based" and vowed never to "betray the science.”
My only concern with her confirmation is her statement during her confirmation hearing that she “was glad” that the United States withdrew from The World Health Organization. I am not sure what her reasoning is, but that remark struck me as being inconsistent with her other responses. We will have to wait and see…
Dr. Schwartz holds a medical degree from Brown University, an MPH from the Uniformed Services University, and a Juris Doctor (law degree) from the University of Maryland. Her listed medical specialty is Occupational Medicine. She has served in the US Coast Guard, the US Navy, the Public Health Service and as Deputy Surgeon General of the United States during the first Trump administration.
One of the biggest challenges she faces is that the CDC has lost more than a quarter of its workforce (over 3,000 employees) due to mass layoffs and resignations over the last 18 months. Morale at the agency is at an all time low and its standing as a world renown beacon of global Public Health leadership has faltered under Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy’s incompetence. Regaining it’s prestige will not come easily nor quickly.
Schwartz has pledged that her "sacred responsibility is to provide the American people with public health guidance that is clear, honest and evidence-based" and vowed never to "betray the science.”
My only concern with her confirmation is her statement during her confirmation hearing that she “was glad” that the United States withdrew from The World Health Organization. I am not sure what her reasoning is, but that remark struck me as being inconsistent with her other responses. We will have to wait and see…
