President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated Erica Schwartz to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, concluding a monthslong effort to choose a permanent leader of the embattled health agency.
Schwartz, who will have to be confirmed by the Senate, would take over the role as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. oversees a string of controversial health policy changes at the agency, including an overhaul of childhood vaccine recommendations.
Schwartz served as deputy surgeon general during the first Trump administration, where she played a major role in the U.S. response to the Covid-19 pandemic. She spent more than 20 year in uniform, including as rear admiral and chief medical officer of the Coast Guard.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya had been acting director of the CDC — a title that expired last month under federal law. That law, called the Vacancies Act, limits the amount of time an acting officer can serve in place of a Senate-confirmed official to 210 days.
Late last month marked 210 days since the most recent CDC director, Dr. Susan Monarez, was fired.
