President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated Dr. Erica Schwartz, a former deputy surgeon general in his first administration, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), marking his latest effort to stabilize leadership at the agency after months of turnover.
“It is my Honor to nominate the incredibly talented Dr. Erica Schwartz, MD, JD, MPH, as my Director of the CDC,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, praising her medical background and prior government service. “She is a STAR!”
Schwartz, a Brown University graduate who trained in both college and medical school there, previously served as a physician in the U.S. military before joining Trump’s first administration as deputy surgeon general. Her nomination makes her the fourth individual tapped to lead the CDC since last summer, underscoring ongoing instability at the agency’s top post.
The position has remained effectively vacant for weeks following Trump’s dismissal of former CDC Director Susan Monarez less than a month after her Senate confirmation. Monarez had been the first CDC director subject to Senate confirmation under a newly implemented requirement. Since her firing, the agency has cycled through acting leadership, including Jim O’Neill and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya.
That interim arrangement has now stretched beyond the legal 210-day limit for a vacant Senate-confirmed role, further complicating the agency’s leadership structure and shifting more authority to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Alongside Schwartz’s nomination, Trump announced a broader slate of public health appointments aimed at reshaping federal health leadership. Sean Slovenski has been selected as the CDC’s CEO, Jennifer Shuford as chief medical officer, and Sara Brenner as a senior counselor for public health within the Department of Health and Human Services.
