CDC nominee Erica Schwartz can do the job, if she’s allowed

President Trump’s nomination of Dr. Erica Schwartz to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has drawn support from some of his critics in federal health policy.

Schwartz, a former deputy surgeon general, is Trump’s third pick to lead the CDC in less than 18 months. Trump announced his nomination of Schwartz late last week.

Dr. Jerome Adams, who served as the surgeon general during Trump’s first term, has criticized some of Trump’s policies. Adams also joined other surgeons general in writing an op-ed declaring that Health & Human Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endangers the public health, citing his undermining confidence in vaccines.

But Adams selected Schwartz to serve as deputy surgeon general, and he praised Trump for nominating her to lead the CDC. He said he was “cautiously optimistic but encouraged.”

In a post on X, Adams wrote, “She has the expertise, credibility, and integrity to lead the CDC effectively. If allowed to follow the science without political interference, she'll excel.”

In a conversation Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Adams said, “She is objectively the most qualified health nominee we've seen from this administration so far, and I want to give the president and senior HHS adviser Chris Klomp credit for tapping her, but that said, my optimism as yours comes with a healthy dose of caution about the environment around Dr. Schwartz.”

Dr. Georges Benjamin, CEO of the American Public Health Association, has also spoken out against Kennedy and the Trump administration. The association joined other public health groups in a legal battle that led to a federal judge blocking Kennedy’s changes in vaccine policy.

But Benjamin also put out a statement offering support for Schwartz. He pointed to her time as deputy surgeon general during Trump’s first term and her service as chief medical officer of the U.S. Coast Guard.

“As a well-trained and credentialed physician and former Deputy Surgeon General, Erica Schwartz possesses the medical background and public health knowledge to understand that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must be guided by evidence-based science,” Benjamin said.

The CDC is a much bigger organization, Benjamin noted, but added that the association is looking forward to working with her if she is confirmed.

“She will need to use sound managerial and negotiation skills to navigate the rebuilding of our nation's public health system,” he said.

Jay Bhattacharya, MD, the director of the National Institutes of Health, has been overseeing the CDC for the past two months. Jim O’Neill, the former deputy health secretary, previously served as interim CDC director for several months.

While many generally applaud Schwartz’s record, some are also wondering if she’ll be given the ability to lead the agency and rely on evidence-based science.

Dr. Vin Gupta, a senior analyst for MSNOW, wrote on X that he supports and respects her as the CDC nominee.

But he also said he’s certain that Kennedy “will not allow her to function independently.”

For his part, Kennedy offered a robust endorsement of Schwartz. He said on X, “ I look forward to working together to restore trust, accountability, and scientific integrity” at the CDC.

However, Kennedy also said he welcomed Trump’s nomination of Susan Monarez to lead the CDC, and she became the first person to secure Senate approval to lead the agency. (Previous nominees did not require Senate confirmation.)

Yet 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.

The firing of Monarez angered public health leaders and Democratic lawmakers. Testifying before Congress, Monarez said she was ousted because she wouldn’t offer a blanket endorsement to changes in vaccine policy and would need to see scientific evidence before endorsing any revisions.

“He just wanted blanket approval,” Monarez said at a Senate health committee hearing in September. “And if I could not commit to approval of each and every one of the recommendations that would be forthcoming, I needed to resign. I did not resign, and that is when he told me he had already spoken to the White House about having me removed.”

Other top CDC leaders chose to leave the agency after Monarez’s firing.

Dr. Debra Houry, the former chief medical officer of the CDC was among those who left.

Speaking before the Senate committee, Houry said, “I resigned because CDC leaders were reduced to rubber stamps, supporting policies not based in science, and putting American lives at risk.”

Trump announced his nomination of Monarez in March 2025, days after the White House withdrew the nomination of Dave Weldon, MD, a physician and former congressman, when it was evident he didn’t have enough support to win Senate confirmation.

Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law and faculty director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, wrote on LinkedIn that Schwartz would be “a credible CDC director.”

“But she’ll need assurances against political interference & ongoing attacks on science and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention itself,” Gostin wrote.

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