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Senate Confirms Dr. Erica Schwartz as C.D.C. Director
nytimes.com • • general
Key Points:
- The Senate confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz as director of the CDC with a 51-44 vote, marking the agency’s first full-time leader in nearly a year.
- The vote was largely partisan, with only one Democrat, Senator Tim Kaine, supporting her nomination.
- Dr. Schwartz, a former deputy surgeon general under Trump, holds degrees in law and medicine and is a retired rear admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service.
- The CDC has faced significant challenges recently, including staff losses, a shooting at its Atlanta headquarters, and managing outbreaks such as cyclosporiasis in the U.S. and Ebola in Africa.
- Experts express concern that the weakened CDC may struggle to effectively contain future outbreaks due to its current diminished capacity.
