{"id":9195,"date":"2026-04-17T12:14:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T17:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/17\/trump-picks-new-director-for-centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T12:14:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T17:14:55","slug":"trump-picks-new-director-for-centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/17\/trump-picks-new-director-for-centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump picks new director for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cdcphoto-1024x576.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo courtesy of CDC)\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>\n<p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo courtesy of CDC)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump on Thursday said he will nominate\u00a0Erica Schwartz, who served in the president\u2019s first administration, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a seat left vacant for months after his last director said she was ousted in a rift over childhood vaccines.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Trump announced his new pick on his social media platform, Truth Social, touting Schwartz\u2019s career as a medical doctor with the U.S. armed forces.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cShe is a STAR!\u201d he\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/116416019325047452\" target=\"_blank\">wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Schwartz was a deputy surgeon general during Trump\u2019s first term, and previously\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dcms.uscg.mil\/Portals\/10\/senior_leaders\/bio\/EricaSchwartz.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">served<\/a> as the director of health, safety and work life while a rear admiral in the U.S. Coast Guard.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Trump\u2019s previous CDC director, Susan Monarez, told U.S. senators under oath in September that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfromthestates.com\/article\/former-cdc-chief-says-she-was-fired-resisting-rfk-jr-orders-vaccines\" target=\"_blank\">fired her<\/a> for not agreeing to pre-approve changes to the childhood vaccine schedule, and for refusing to fire agency scientists without cause.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Monarez held the position for just 29 days before she was ousted. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on a party-line vote in July.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The president also announced nominations of several other health officials to fill open spots at the CDC.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI am also pleased to announce the appointment of Sean Slovenski as the CDC Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Jennifer Shuford, MD, MPH, as the CDC Deputy Director and Chief Medical Officer, and Dr. Sara Brenner, MD, MPH, as Senior Counselor for Public Health to Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,\u201d Trump wrote.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThese Highly Respected Doctors of Medicine have the knowledge, experience, and TOP degrees to restore the GOLD STANDARD OF SCIENCE at the CDC, which was an absolute disaster focused on \u2018mandates\u2019 under Sleepy Joe,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The CDC\u2019s vaccine advisory committee\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/westvirginiawatch.com\/2025\/09\/19\/repub\/cdc-panel-opts-against-requiring-covid-shot-prescription-but-wants-greater-emphasis-on-its-risks\/\" target=\"_blank\">adjusted<\/a> recommendations for childhood vaccines in September, withdrawing the agency\u2019s recommendation that children receive the COVID-19 vaccine.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo courtesy of CDC) WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump on Thursday said he will nominate\u00a0Erica Schwartz, who served in the president\u2019s first administration, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a seat left vacant for months after his last director said she was&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Trump picks new director for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - WestplexNews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/17\/trump-picks-new-director-for-centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump picks new director for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - WestplexNews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. 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