Erica Schwartz Vows to Defend CDC Science as Trump's 3rd Nominee Faces Vaccine Scrutiny
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 15
Erica Schwartz Vows to Defend CDC Science as Trump's 3rd Nominee Faces Vaccine Scrutiny
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 15
Summary
Erica Schwartz told senators she would not “betray the science” as she sought approval to become CDC director, with the Senate health committee expected to advance Trump’s third nominee for the post in under two years.
Bill Cassidy, the committee’s Republican chairman and a physician, used the hearing to demand that Schwartz resist Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts to roll back childhood vaccine recommendations.
Schwartz, a former deputy surgeon general in Trump’s first term, has publicly backed childhood vaccines and is widely seen as a mainstream, qualified pick despite the administration’s broader vaccine-policy turmoil.
Cassidy’s sharp warning underscored a wider fight over rebuilding trust in public health agencies after confidence in the CDC fell from 82% in early 2020 to 56% by mid-2022.