Erica Schwartz, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention testifies before a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, July 15, 2026. [Photo/Agencies]
WASHINGTON - The US Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm Erica Schwartz as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after nearly a year-long vacancy in which the role was filled only on an acting basis.
The upper chamber voted 51 to 44 to confirm the nomination, mostly along partisan lines.
Schwartz, who served as deputy surgeon general during President Donald Trump's first term, was already the Trump administration's third nominee to lead the CDC in the past two years.
Trump initially nominated David Weldon, a physician and former US Representative from Florida. Weldon's nomination was withdrawn in March 2025 due to insufficient Senate support.
