Trump's new pick for CDC leader may face "threat to follow ideology over evidence," former surgeon general warns

Source: CBS News

April 19, 2026 / 12:58 PM EDT / CBS News


Dr. Erica Schwartz, President Trump's new nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is a "home run pick" but may face pressure from the "vaccine-skeptical" Robert F. Kennedy's Health and Human Services Department if confirmed to the role, former Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Sunday.

Adams was Mr. Trump's Surgeon General during his first term in office. During that time, Schwartz was Adams' deputy Surgeon General.

Polls suggested "that Republicans were going to pay in the midterm election if they continued on an anti-vaccine push," Adams said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," but Schwartz is "objectively the most qualified health nominee we've seen from this administration so far."

Schwartz is a graduate of Brown University's medical school and holds a law degree from the University of Maryland. She also spent 24 years in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Currently, Schwartz oversees dozens of Coast Guard facilities as the agency's director of health, safety and work-life.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jerome-adams-erica-schwartz-face-the-nation-surgeon-general-kennedy-cdc/