After some turbulence, CDC nominee nears Senate approval: Questions and answers

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn’t had a director for nearly a year, but Dr. Erica Schwartz has taken a critical step toward taking the post.

On Thursday, the Senate Health Committee approved Schwartz’s nomination to lead the CDC. Her confirmation will now go before the full Senate. President Trump nominated Schwartz to lead the CDC in April. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, has been serving as acting CDC director.

Here’s a rundown of Schwartz’s path toward the top spot at the CDC, a trip that has had some turbulence.

Q: What was the vote on Schwartz’s nomination?

A: The Senate Health Committee approved Schwartz’s confirmation in a 13-10 vote Thursday. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, the chairman and a physician, voted in favor of her.

All of the committee’s Republicans voted for her. Only one Democrat, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, voted in favor of Schwartz.

Q: How has Schwartz been received?

A: When President Trump first nominated Schwartz, she was considered a solid pick. A former deputy surgeon general, Schwartz appeared to be a more conventional choice than some other healthcare officials in the Trump administration.

Dr. Jerome Adams, who served as the surgeon general during Trump’s first term, told CBS’ Face The Nation that Schwartz was “the most qualified health nominee we've seen from this administration so far.”

However, Schwartz faced tough questions at a July 15 hearing.

Q: What happened at that hearing?

A: Cassidy pressed Schwartz on whether she would be able to function independently as the CDC director. He has criticized the Health Department and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for confusing language around vaccine safety and potential links to autism. Cassidy has emphasized that there is no link between vaccines and autism, and that’s the general consensus among physicians and scientists.

In a hearing earlier this month, Cassidy said, “We need a CDC director that will actually stand up to crazy, stupid things being said that undermine faith in immunization … Will you have the ability and the firmness to stand up to that political meddling?”

Schwartz said at the hearing that she would follow the science. “I will never compromise on the science,” she said.

But Schwartz didn’t explicitly say she would refuse directives from Kennedy, and she didn’t commit to reviving the CDC’s flu vaccination campaign, which Kennedy ended, The Washington Post reported.

Q: Why did Cassidy come around?

A: Last week, Cassidy said he was going to vote in favor of Schwartz.

“After speaking with Dr. Schwartz again after the hearing, reviewing the transcript, and speaking to those who have served with her and know her well, I'm confident that she knows what she is doing and will stand against those who do not,” Cassidy said July 23.

Cassidy also cited what he called “a sign of good faith,” saying the Health Department had modified the CDC’s autism and vaccines webpage.

However, as of July 30, the webpage appeared unchanged. Here’s the language at the top of the page: “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and other groups have condemned that language.

Q: Is Schwartz likely to get CDC approval?

A: The approval of the Senate HELP Committee usually has been the biggest hurdle for key health appointments. Schwartz’s confirmation vote now goes to the full Senate.

Republicans hold a narrow 53-47 majority in the Senate, and Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell has been absent since being hospitalized in mid-June. If most Democrats vote against Schwartz, as in the Senate health committee vote Thursday, Schwartz will need virtually all of the GOP to be unified.

But with Kaine, the Democrat from Virginia, voting in favor of Schwartz, she does have some cushion, and it’s possible at least a few other Democrats could vote for her as well.

Q: Why has the CDC director been such a tough post to fill?

A: In the past, the CDC director didn’t require Senate approval. In previous administrations, presidents have chosen the CDC’s top leader. Congress passed a law in 2023 requiring the Senate to confirm the CDC director; the law took effect in 2025.

But the drama goes far beyond the fairly new legislative process. This is Trump’s third nominee for CDC director.

Trump initially nominated Dave Weldon, MD, a physician and former congressman, but the White House pulled the nomination in March 2025 when it was clear he lacked support.

Then Trump nominated Susan Monarez to lead the CDC, and the Senate approved her in July 2025. Monarez became the first - and only - CDC director to be confirmed by the Senate.

Less than a month after Monarez was confirmed, Trump fired her as CDC director. Kennedy said she could no longer be trusted to lead the agency. Monarez testified in a Senate Health Committee hearing last September that she wouldn’t give Kennedy blanket approval on vaccine policy changes and “could not replace evidence with ideology.”