Erica Schwartz confirmed as CDC director, ending year-long vacancy

Erica Schwartz was confirmed on Wednesday as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ending a vacancy that lasted almost a year. The Senate approved her appointment by a 51-44 vote.

Schwartz is a retired rear admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and previously served as deputy surgeon general during the first Trump administration, where she helped launch Covid-19 testing drive-throughs and tents.

She takes over the agency as it confronts ongoing outbreaks of measles, a foodborne parasite in the United States, and Ebola cases in Africa, and she will also navigate the current administration's aggressive vaccine policy agenda.