{"id":27875,"date":"2026-08-04T23:52:35","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T18:52:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=27875"},"modified":"2026-08-04T23:52:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T18:52:35","slug":"who-is-dr-erica-schwartz-trumps-pick-for-cdc-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=27875","title":{"rendered":"Who Is Dr. Erica Schwartz, Trump\u2019s Pick For CDC Director?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"listicle-slide\" data-page-number=\"0\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"382\" width=\"660\" src=\"https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/17858549048358.jpg?w=635&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Senate Holds Confirmation Hearing For Erica Schwartz To Be CDC Director\" class=\"wp-image-1684331\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.4111601097260322;width:840px;height:auto\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: Finn Gomez \/ Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Erica Schwartz, <a href=\"https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/tag\/president-donald-trump\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"703592272\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), advanced through a key Senate committee vote on Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2026\/07\/30\/erica-schwartz-trumps-pick-cdc-director-is-approved-by-senate-panel\/\">The Washington Post reports<\/a> that the Senate health committee voted 13-10 to advance Schwartz\u2019s nomination to the Senate floor. Schwartz is the Trump administration\u2019s third nominee to lead the CDC. Former congressman Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) was the first nominee before the administration retracted the nomination. Susan Monarez was the second nominee and was actually confirmed. She didn\u2019t last long in the role, though, as she was fired after clashing with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his obsession with vaccines.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>RELATED CONTENT: <a href=\"https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/1674683\/jasmine-crockett-stop-trump-act\/\">Jasmine Crockett\u2019s \u2018STOP TRUMP\u2019 Act Explained \u2014 And Why MAGA Is In Full Meltdown Mode<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"listicle-slide\" data-page-number=\"1\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/cdc-director-erica-schwartz-kennedy-trump-senate-683e24162ae7204a011a3c41d5b43298\">According to AP,<\/a> Schwartz\u2019s nomination seemed to be on shaky ground after some intense questioning by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). Cassidy was one of Kennedy\u2019s staunchest Republican critics during his confirmation hearing, given Kennedy\u2019s general aversion to scientific fact in favor of whatever he sees on Facebook.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cassidy asked Schwartz if she would stand up to Kennedy if he asked her to do something that goes against proven medical science. Schwartz said she would \u201cnever betray the science\u201d but declined to criticize RFK Jr.\u2019s regular betrayal of the science.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Schwartz, a Black woman, is probably the least insane Trump appointee, but that honestly isn\u2019t a high bar to clear. Schwartz served as deputy surgeon general during Trump\u2019s first term from 2019 to 2021. Before that, she spent most of her career in the armed forces, working her way up the ranks of the U.S. Coast Guard. She eventually was promoted to rear admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"listicle-slide\" data-page-number=\"2\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, unlike most members of the Trump administration, she actually has some proven expertise in her field.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite her nomination advancing, Schwartz\u2019s responses did little to assuage the concerns of several senators and medical professionals. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was among those who were critical of Schwartz\u2019s performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe issue at hand is not complicated,\u201d Sanders said last week. \u201cWill we have people in the Trump administration who have the guts to stand up to people who are anti-science and into conspiracy theories?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The National Public Health Coalition, an organization of former and current CDC workers, released a statement calling out Schwartz for being evasive on how she would handle Kennedy\u2019s frequent disregard of medical science.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe public needed to hear clear commitments about how she would protect CDC guidance from political pressure,\u201d the group said in a statement. \u201cToo often, her stated commitments were incomplete, vague, or missing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"listicle-slide\" data-page-number=\"3\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The coalition called on the Senate to make Schwartz sign a written commitment to \u201cscientific independence\u201d and \u201cevidence-based vaccine policy.\u201d I would honestly have to agree with that approach, considering what we\u2019ve seen of Kennedy\u2019s tenure as HHS secretary.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kennedy said all the right things during his confirmation hearings, including promising not to change the vaccine schedule. Yet upon being confirmed to his position, one of the first things he did was fire everyone who disagreed with his conspiracy theories about vaccines and <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/newsone.com\/6417922\/fda-approves-updated-covid-vaccines-restricts-access\/\">change the vaccine schedule<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You know, normally I\u2019d be happy to see a Black woman winning, but considering this is her second at bat with the Trump administration, the most I can muster is a \u201cyou do you, girl.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>RELATED CONTENT: <a href=\"https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/1430001\/donald-trump-martin-luther-king-jr-inauguration-day\/\">I Have A Nightmare\u2014Martin Luther King Jr.\u00a0Is Rolling Over In His Grave On Trump\u2019s 2nd Inauguration Day [Op-Ed]<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Finn Gomez \/ Getty Dr. Erica Schwartz, President Donald Trump\u2019s nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), advanced through a key Senate committee vote on Thursday.\u00a0 The Washington Post reports that the Senate health committee voted 13-10 to advance Schwartz\u2019s nomination to the Senate floor. Schwartz is the Trump administration\u2019s&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/17858549048358-e1785855413685.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=1024&crop=0,0,100,592px","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}