CDC confirms first permanent director in a year with Dr. Erica Schwartz
The Senate voted 51-44 to approve Schwartz, the third Trump nominee for the role in 18 months, amid agency turmoil and staffing cuts
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Erica Schwartz testifies during a Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions committee confirmation hearing to be the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Photograph: Associated Press News (embedded from source)
What this story says
- The Senate confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz as CDC director on 5 August 2026 in a 51-44 vote, the first permanent leader in nearly a year.
- Schwartz is the third Trump nominee for the role in 18 months, following the ousting of the previous confirmed director after less than a month in office.
- The CDC has lost more than 3,000 employees, over a quarter of its workforce, since Trump returned to office in 2025.
- No right-rated outlet reported on Schwartz’s confirmation, according to the digests and reports available.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 1 of the 7 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
70/100
Craft
85/100
Hype
15/100
7 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
None of the 6 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
The US Senate confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on 5 August 2026. The vote was 51 in favour and 44 against. Schwartz, 54, is the 22nd director of the agency and the first confirmed leader in nearly a year. She previously served as deputy surgeon general and held a leadership position in the US Coast Guard.
Schwartz’s confirmation follows a period of turmoil at the CDC. The agency has lost more than 3,000 employees, over one-quarter of its workforce, since Donald Trump returned to office in 2025. Morale has declined amid a series of temporary leaders and political appointees with limited public health experience. Schwartz is the third Trump nominee for the role in the past 18 months.
The previous confirmed director, Susan Monarez, was ousted less than a month after her confirmation. Monarez’s termination was attributed by Trump administration officials to a lack of alignment with the president’s agenda. Before Monarez, a former Florida congressman, Dr. David Weldon, was nominated but withdrew after his Senate hearing was cancelled due to insufficient support.
What the coverage left out
None of the digests or reports from right-rated outlets carried the story. The omission covers the confirmation vote, the agency’s staffing losses, and the context of Schwartz’s nomination.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 1 time, most recently on 5 Aug 2026, 20:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
4 rated outlets
- The left-rated reports led on the confirmation as a turning point for the CDC after a year of instability. The Associated Press described the agency as "beleaguered by political meddling and low morale" and noted that Schwartz’s confirmation followed questions about her willingness to resist orders from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that lacked scientific backing. The AP also highlighted that Schwartz was Trump’s choice, not Kennedy’s, and that public health experts had expressed cautious optimism about her background.
- The left-rated digests carried the vote count, Schwartz’s prior roles, and the agency’s staffing losses. NBC News and 90.1 FM WABE both noted that Schwartz was the first permanent director in over a year. NOTUS added that she had served as deputy surgeon general during Trump’s first administration.
Centre
2 rated outlets
- The centre-rated reports framed the confirmation as a response to prolonged leadership gaps. News 4 JAX, in its full report, mirrored the Associated Press’s language, describing the CDC as "beleaguered by political meddling and low morale" and detailing the agency’s staffing losses. It also included the same context about Schwartz’s nomination hearing and the questions raised by Sen. Bill Cassidy.
- Bloomberg’s digest led on the timing of the confirmation, noting it came a year after Kennedy fired the previous director. It did not mention the agency’s staffing losses or the vote count.
Right
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Read it at the source
7 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
4- Senate confirms Dr. Erica Schwartz as CDC director, bringing new leadership to troubled agency (opens 90.1 FM WABE in a new tab)
90.1 FM WABE
- New CDC director is confirmed, giving agency its first permanent leader in a year (opens NBC News in a new tab)
- Senate Confirms Erica Schwartz to Lead the CDC (opens NOTUS in a new tab)
- Senate confirms Dr. Erica Schwartz as CDC director, bringing new leadership to troubled agency (opens Associated Press News in a new tab)
Associated Press News — is Associated Press News biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
2Right
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Not rated
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