President Donald Trump has selected Dr. Erica Schwartz to be the Director of the CDC, April 16, 2026.Department of Health and Human Services
President Donald Trump put forth Dr. Erica Schwartz, formerly a deputy surgeon general, on Thursday as the incoming head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“It is my distinct honor to nominate the exceptionally skilled Dr. Erica Schwartz as my appointee for Director of the CDC,” Trump expressed in a message on Truth Social.
If the Senate confirms her, Schwartz will take the place of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, chief of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), who assumed the role of acting CDC director back in February.
Schwartz obtained a medical degree from Brown University and was in the U.S. Navy until 2005.
She worked within the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, as the Chief Medical Officer of the Coast Guard and as Deputy Surgeon General spanning from 2019 to the early part of 2021, throughout the initial Trump administration.
President Donald Trump has nominated Dr. Erica Schwartz, to be the Director of the CDC, April 16, 2026.Department of Health and Human Services
Trump also publicized other newly designated individuals for CDC and HHS roles within the Truth Social announcement.
“These highly esteemed doctors of medicine possess the understanding, background, and top credentials to bring back the Gold Standard of Science at the CDC, which had become a complete mess emphasizing “mandates” during Sleepy Joe’s time,” Trump penned. “Together, they will accomplish a remarkable feat in steering the CDC as we endeavor to Make America Healthy and Great Again!”
Schwartz marks the fourth individual designated or chosen as the leading figure of the CDC since the past summer.
Dr. Susan Monarez received endorsement as CDC director in July 2025; however, her tenure lasted for fewer than 30 days. Monarez faced dismissal by Kennedy purportedly for not automatically approving the health secretary’s vaccine objectives or terminating prominent CDC authorities whom he opposed.
This upheaval resulted in both Kennedy and Monarez appearing before Senate committees to delve into the removal.
During a Senate hearing in September 2025, Monarez stated she was terminated by Trump and Kennedy for “maintaining integrity concerning scientific matters.”
Kennedy, in a discussion ahead of a separate Senate panel earlier in that month, challenged Monarez’s recounting of happenings. He refuted claims of instructing Monarez to endorse vaccine suggestions without scientific justification, while asserting her discharge stemmed partly from her disclosure of being untrustworthy.
Following Monarez’s firing, Jim O’Neill, who fulfilled duties as Kennedy’s HHS deputy secretary, was designated as acting CDC director and sanctioned the CDC decision to lessen the count of vaccines advised for minors and eliminate the universal recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccination at birth.
Later on, these resolutions were temporarily restrained by a federal judge.
An official from the White House conveyed to ABC News earlier in the year that Bhattacharya would be in charge as head of the CDC, while O’Neill was to be nominated as the incoming head of the National Science Foundation.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com