The new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Erica Schwartz, confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Aug. 5, 2026, is only the second CDC director to face Senate confirmation. Congress adopted the process for the agency after the COVID-19 pandemic to bring more scrutiny to one of the country’s most consequential public health jobs, as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023.

That change is especially important now. The CDC is tracking multiple measles outbreaks, investigating a multistate cyclospora outbreak linked to iceberg lettuce and other produce, and supporting the response to the second-largest Ebola outbreak in history unfolding in Central Africa. At the same time, the Trump administration is reshaping federal childhood vaccine recommendations in ways that could weaken protection against preventable disease for years to come.

As public health policy becomes increasingly politicized and polarizing, the CDC director needs more than technical expertise and political skill. She must give the public clear, accurate guidance, including when the evidence conflicts with the preferences of the president or the health secretary.

Schwartz is a retired U.S. Public Health Services Commissioned Corps rear admiral, who was previously the chief medical officer with the Coast Guard and then the deputy surgeon general from 2019 to 2021.

As experts in infectious-disease preparedness, outbreak response and public health policy, we see Schwartz’s confirmation process as critical for a reason that goes beyond the vote itself.

Senate review can make a nominee answer publicly for her judgment, priorities and willingness to defend evidence. But it can’t ensure scientific independence or restore the people, systems and public trust that disease control requires. Confirmation opens a line of accountability – it doesn’t guarantee how the director will use it.

What matters now is how Schwartz uses the authority she has – and whether Congress and the administration give the agency the capacity to do its work.

Senate confirmation creates a public record

For most of the CDC’s history, the secretary of health and human services selected the agency’s........

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