Senate confirms Erica Schwartz to lead CDC in 51-44 vote
Why it matters: Schwartz takes over an agency hit by more than 3,000 departures and responding to measles, cyclospora and Ebola threats.
The Senate confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz on Wednesday as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, giving the agency its first confirmed leader in nearly a year. Schwartz won approval on a 51-44 vote and becomes the 22nd head of the Atlanta-based CDC.
She steps in as the agency faces deep staffing losses, low morale and scrutiny over whether it can preserve science-based policy under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The CDC has lost more than 3,000 employees through layoffs and resignations since President Donald Trump returned to office, according to the reports.
Schwartz, a former deputy surgeon general and Coast Guard official, was pressed at her July hearing over vaccines and whether she would resist political pressure.