The Senate on Aug. 5 confirmed President Donald Trump’s latest nominee for director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC, a public health agency that aims to protect Americans from diseases, has about 12,000 employees.
Fifty-one senators voted to confirm Dr. Erica Schwartz to the position, compared to 43 who voted no.
All the yes votes came from Republicans apart from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). All the no votes came from Democrats or Independents who caucus with Democrats.
Six senators, including Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), missed the vote.
Schwartz will become the second person Trump has nominated to serve as director of the CDC.
Senators in 2025 confirmed Susan Monarez to head the CDC, but Trump fired her after one month in office after she clashed with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over how to handle guidance from the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel.
Monarez says Kennedy tried forcing her to accept the guidance without alteration, while Kennedy says Monarez refused to be open to even considering the guidance.
Based partly on advice from the panel, Kennedy and the acting CDC director at the time in early 2026 narrowed the childhood vaccination schedule. A federal judge blocked the update in the spring and said most of the panel’s members could not serve because Kennedy had not followed proper procedure in selecting them.
An appeal is ongoing.
Schwartz, who was deputy surgeon general during Trump’s first term and once served as the Coast Guard’s chief medical officer, told senators during her confirmation hearing that she believes “vaccines are safe and effective,” and supports shots that use messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology, a platform Kennedy has criticized.
Kennedy has said that he helped vet Schwartz.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who has opposed some of Trump’s health nominees, said he was convinced by Schwartz’s testimony and commitments by health officials to make key personnel changes to support 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's doing and will stand against those who do not,” Cassidy said during a recent hearing.