Schwartz confirmed as CDC director after bungling confirmation hearing

Per Ars Technica, the Senate confirmed Erica Schwartz as CDC director on Wednesday in a fifty-one to forty-four vote, ending nearly a year-long vacancy. Despite her credentials—a medical degree, master's degree in public health, law degree, and prior service as deputy surgeon general—Schwartz failed to convince senators she could stand up to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine figure. The vacancy arose when Kennedy fired the previous director, Susan Monarez, last August for refusing to endorse vaccine recommendations from his advisors. Schwartz is a noted vaccine and outbreak preparedness advocate, stepping into that same conflict.

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