Trump picks former Deputy Surgeon General Erica Schwartz as new CDC nominee

President Trump on Thursday announced Erica Schwartz, who served in a senior health role in his first administration, as his third pick to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) more than six months after the last director was fired.

“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.

“Erica graduated from Brown University for College and Medical School, and served a distinguished career as a Doctor of Medicine in the United States Military, the Greatest and Most Powerful Force in the World, and then served as my Deputy Surgeon General during my First Term. She is a STAR!” he added.

Trump additionally announced Sean Slovenski as his pick to be the agency’s CEO, Jennifer Shuford to be the CDC’s chief medical officer ,and Sara Brenner to be Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s senior counselor for Public Health.

The role of CDC director has sat empty since Trump fired former director Susan Monarez less than a month after she was confirmed by the Senate. Monarez was the first CDC director to be Senate-confirmed after the new requirement was added.

Since her termination, the role has been occupied by acting Directors Jim O’Neill and National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya. The role has since exceeded the 210-day limit for a Senate-confirmed position to be vacant, leaving it unoccupied once again and vesting the majority of its function in Kennedy.