Senate confirms Schwartz as CDC chief in 51-44 vote

The Senate voted Wednesday to confirm Dr. Erica Schwartz as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, filling a post that had been vacant for nearly a year. The tally was 51-44, largely along party lines. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans.

Schwartz served as deputy surgeon general during President Donald Trump's first term. She is a retired U.S. Coast Guard officer and Navy physician. The White House nominated her in April.

She succeeds Dr. Susan Monarez, whom Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired in August after less than a month on the job. NBC News reported that Monarez was dismissed because she disagreed with Kennedy about vaccines. Several acting directors followed, including Jim O'Neill and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.

At a Senate hearing in July, Schwartz said vaccines are safe and effective. "As CDC director, my sacred responsibility is to provide the American people with public health guidance that is clear, honest and evidence based," she said. "I will never betray the science."

Senator Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican who chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, had criticized Schwartz during the hearing for dodging his questions. After a follow-up conversation, he voted for her. "I am confident that she knows what she is doing and will stand against those who do not," Cassidy said in July. "If confirmed, I look forward to working with Dr. Schwartz to protect children's health and regain trust in the CDC."

The National Public Health Coalition, an advocacy group representing many former CDC employees, opposed the nomination. "The public needed to hear clear commitments about how she would protect CDC guidance from political pressure," the group said in a statement. "Too often, her stated commitments were incomplete, vague or missing."