How the White House decided on Erica Schwartz for CDC director

Over the course of a year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has witnessed a traumatic shooting, sudden leadership changes and the crumbling of its image as a globally respected public health agency.

So when the Trump administration began searching for a new director, there was one requirement that was above the search criteria.

“We just need someone who’s not crazy,” a White House official told CNN amid a lengthy search for a candidate that culminated in Trump’s choice of former deputy surgeon general and retired US Coast Guard officer Erica Schwartz for the job in April.

On Wednesday, Schwartz, President Donald Trump’s third pick to lead the CDC, appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for confirmation. He testifies alongside Sean Kaufman, the President’s nominee for Deputy Secretary for Preparedness and Response.

Senior health officials and others familiar with the matter told CNN at the time that Schwartz’s selection was aimed at stabilizing the agency after near-constant turmoil that has sapped morale and deeply shaken Americans’ faith in the administration’s health agenda.

In the months since, the need for strong CDC leadership has become even more acute. The public health agency has combated disease outbreaks on many fronts; While providing support to the Ebola epidemic in Central Africa, it also strives to control the epidemic. sudden increase in parasitic diarrhea in multiple states.

Schwartz marks a notable departure from previous contestants who were evaluated by management and followed the line of “Make America Healthy Again.” The government has a long history of guiding vaccine programs and crisis responses; This is in stark contrast to Trump’s initial CDC pick; This election, his candidacy was withdrawn, in part because it became clear that vaccine skepticism would prevent him from getting the job.

Her nomination has already drawn praise on Capitol Hill and raised hopes within the administration that she would be confirmed quickly.

As the White House intensifies its focus on the midterm elections, the move comes as Trump aides are pushing back against Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who once had wide latitude to pursue divisive efforts to overhaul vaccines and other key health policies. It is the latest sign of how significantly they are trying to rein in the Department of Health and Human Services under his leadership.

But the move has already shaken MAHA believers while leaving some mainstream public health experts still unconvinced.

D., senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. “He is a good and qualified candidate and will be in any administration. But it is not about his qualifications; it is the environment in which he is asked to work,” Amesh Adalja said. “If this is supposed to be some sort of distraction from what happened last year, if RFK Jr. is still around, this will all be window dressing.”

Meanwhile, leading vaccine critic Toby Rogers declared on X that Schwartz’s appointment would be “a slap in the face to the foundation of medical freedom that gave Trump the presidency in 2016 and 2024.”

“The White House isn’t even trying to win the midterm elections right now,” he added.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

A remarkable change

The White House is eager to keep the health department away from unflattering headlines ahead of midterm elections that could cost Republicans control of Congress and stall President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Vaccines in particular were a sticking point. When it became clear that Trump’s views on the vaccine would delay the vote, his first candidate was former congressman Dr. Dave pulled Weldon back.

Confirmed CDC director Dr. Susan Monarez (a scientist and longtime public health official) immediately clashed with Kennedy over vaccine policies and efforts to oust some top CDC officials. He was laid off less than a month later.

After Monarez’s high-profile departure last August, some Trump officials questioned whether it was even worth trying to find another candidate to lead the agency.

Kennedy appointed then-deputy secretary Jim O’Neill as interim chairman and sought to concentrate much of the decision-making among the department’s political leaders in Washington.

But senior White House and HHS officials quickly soured on O’Neill, who rarely spent time at the CDC’s Atlanta headquarters and was seen as a subpar public communicator among political appointees, according to people familiar with the matter.

The agency is currently overseen by Jay Bhattacharya, who was acting director until March and still carries out some duties; Bhattacharya is also the director of the National Institutes of Health.

Meanwhile, the White House has grown increasingly frustrated with HHS’s constant internal upheavals and alarmed by polls showing Kennedy’s vaccine agenda threatening to drag down the GOP in the midterm elections.

The struggle to steer health messages to more populist grounds was evident at a series of HHS budget hearings in April, when Kennedy was grilled by Democrats with at least one reference to measles outbreaks, vaccine safety and the causes of autism.raccoon genitalia This was recently revealed in a book citing Kennedy’s alleged diary entries.

The secretary variously defended his actions and promised improvements, particularly at the CDC, while acknowledging that morale was “rare” last year due to layoffs and high-profile departures.

“I think this new team can really revolutionize the CDC and get it back on track,” he said before the House Appropriations subcommittee in April, referring to Schwartz and three new public health officials named that month.

The election was preceded by several months of internal discussions aimed at smoothing over turmoil at HHS.

In late January, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles ordered a review of the department. White House officials then worked with Kennedy to orchestrate a change in HHS leadership, including removing O’Neill and installing new advisers at the top of the department.

One of those advisers, Medicare chief Chris Klomp, was appointed as HHS’s general counsel and has since moved quickly to stabilize HHS and its various subagencies, three people familiar with the situation told CNN. Klomp was well-liked in the White House and wielded considerable influence over personnel decisions and other critical activities, these people said.

The priorities included finding a permanent CDC director who could adeptly lead the agency and, most importantly, avoiding subjecting the administration to more damaging news cycles that would distract from the White House’s core midterm message.

Klomp led an effort to identify and interview nominees for several weeks, seeking officials mainstream enough to win confirmation in a closely divided Senate but still willing to work closely with Kennedy on a broader overhaul of the CDC, sources said.

In a notable twist, those criteria do not include sharing Kennedy’s skepticism about vaccines, two sources familiar with the selection process said. Kennedy was initially skeptical of Schwartz as a potential nominee, but became more supportive after meeting with him and eventually accepted his recommendation to the White House, two people familiar with the matter said.

Meanwhile, Klomp’s influence grew, leading to a search for Schwartz and other top health officials. Trump appointed Klomp in June HHS assistant secretary, effectively making him Kennedy’s second-in-command at the agency.

Is Kennedy’s power waning?

Since taking tighter control of HHS’s activities, White House officials have prevented Kennedy and his aides from publicly discussing efforts to overhaul vaccine policies; He cast the issue as politically toxic to voters and unhelpful ahead of the midterms.

To signal HHS’s renewed commitment to stabilizing the agency, officials also listed senior advisers they previously planned to appoint around Schwartz. They include former Walmart executive Sean Slovenski, Texas health commissioner Jennifer Shuford and senior Food and Drug Administration official Sara Brenner.

Brenner, a career staffer who worked closely with Kennedy at the beginning of the administration, is expected to serve as a liaison between Kennedy and the CDC’s leadership in Atlanta, as well as a chief advisor to Kennedy on the agency’s priorities.

People familiar with the secretary’s thinking said Kennedy has largely accepted the changes overseen by the White House in recent months, has been careful to remain close to Trump and still believes he can make progress on some of his own personal priorities.

He is expected to spend much of the months leading up to the midterms on the road, talking about the administration’s work on healthier eating and lowering drug prices. He has largely abandoned public discussion of further vaccine changes and accepted a White House pesticide development effort he once vocally opposed.

But for some close Kennedy supporters who once heralded his appointment to head HHS as the beginning of a healthcare revolution, the sudden return to more traditional priorities has proven increasingly difficult to accept.

Aaron Siri, a vaccine injury attorney who worked as Kennedy’s personal attorney and is trying to sort out federal vaccine policies, told CNN: “The only thing that can be done is [Schwartz] “The CDC is likely to be a cheerleader for the industry rather than a regulator of it.”

“I think if this had been left alone, Secretary Kennedy would not have picked it,” he added.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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