Statement on Erica Schwartz Senate HELP Committee Hearing

JULY 15, 2026

The National Public Health Coalition is deeply concerned that today’s Senate HELP Committee hearing did not give the public the confidence it deserves in Dr. Erica Schwartz’s nomination to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This was not a routine confirmation hearing. The next CDC Director will inherit an agency facing urgent health threats, weakened public trust, and serious questions about whether science will be protected from political interference. At this moment, CDC needs leadership that is independent, transparent, accountable to the public, and willing to defend the evidence and the science that keep our communities safe. Dr. Schwartz offered broad assurances about science, transparency, and trust. But broad assurances are not enough. The public needed to hear clear commitments about how she would protect CDC guidance from political pressure. Too often, her stated commitments were incomplete, vague, or missing.

NPHC is especially concerned that Dr. Schwartz did not clearly establish the boundaries of her independence. The next CDC Director must be prepared to say “no” to any directive that would suppress, delay, alter, or politicize scientific findings or public health guidance. CDC’s credibility depends not only on a leader’s stated respect for science, but on their willingness to defend that science publicly when it matters most.

Today’s hearing also left major questions about whether Dr. Schwartz is prepared to rebuild CDC’s workforce and restore the agency’s operating capacity. CDC cannot meet this moment with hollowed-out offices, overextended staff, weakened surveillance systems, and public health partners left without timely guidance. Rebuilding trust requires rebuilding the people, programs, data systems, and relationships that make public health work possible.

What is at stake in this nomination is larger than one nominee. It is CDC’s ability to respond to current and future health threats, restore public trust in vaccines and scientific communication, support state, local, tribal, and territorial public health systems, and protect the workers whose expertise the nation depends on during emergencies.

Before this nomination advances, senators should require specific written commitments from Dr. Schwartz on scientific independence, evidence-based vaccine policy, workforce rebuilding, public health data and surveillance, conflicts of interest, employee safety, and CDC’s statutory responsibilities. The Senate should not accept general assurances where the public deserves clear answers.

The public deserves a CDC Director who will defend science, protect public health workers, and rebuild the systems that keep communities safe. NPHC will continue to hold CDC leadership accountable to the workers, communities, and public health partners who depend on a strong, independent, and fully functioning CDC.

Based on what we saw during the Senate HELP Committee hearing on July 15, 2026, NPHC cannot support Dr. Schwartz’s nomination.