Get the Top, Local stories delivered to your inbox! Click here to join the daily Vernon Matters newsletter.
FILE - A sign with the CDC logo is displayed at the entrance to the agency's headquarters in Atlanta on March 2, 2025. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)
By The Canadian Press

Trump nominates Erica Schwartz, former deputy surgeon general, to serve as CDC director

Apr 16, 2026 | 12:56 PM

President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated Erica Schwartz, a former deputy surgeon general, to be the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In a social media post, Trump described Schwartz as “incredibly talented” and said, “She is a STAR!”

The Atlanta-based CDC, which is charged with protecting Americans from preventable health threats, has been in turmoil since Trump returned to office more than a year ago, with a succession of mostly temporary leaders.

The agency is overseen by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who had promised not to change the nation’s vaccination schedule. But shortly after taking office, Kennedy said he was going to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule and went on to attempt a substantial rewrite of vaccine recommendations for kids. Some of those efforts were put on hold recently by a federal judge.

The administration’s first pick to run the CDC was former Florida congressman Dr. David Weldon, but his March 2025 Senate confirmation hearing was canceled an hour before it was to begin. Weldon said at the time that he’d been told not enough senators were willing to vote for him.

Emergency Preparedness
Province preparing for flood, wildfire seasons
1h ago
T-bone Crashes
Two collisions on 34th St. within 24 hours
2h ago
Toxic Drug Crisis
No Vernon fatal overdoses in February, 115 across B.C.
9h ago

The White House then moved on to Susan Monarez, who had been serving as the CDC’s acting director. Monarez was confirmed by the Senate, but she was ousted in less than a month. Trump administration officials said she wasn’t aligned with their agenda so they terminated her.

Several key CDC scientific leaders resigned in protest, saying Monarez’s dismissal dashed their hopes that a CDC director would be able to guard against political meddling in the agency’s scientific research and health recommendations.

Since then, there’s been a revolving door in agency leadership, with the short-term role of acting director being passed from one Washington-based HHS official to another. National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya has been overseeing the CDC the past several weeks.

During a House Appropriations Committee hearing Thursday, Kennedy said the new team the CDC is bringing in is “extraordinary.”

“I think this new team is really going to be able to revolutionize CDC and get it back on track,” he said.

The Schwartz nomination comes as Dr. Casey Means, Trump’s pick for another key health-related role, U.S. surgeon general, has had difficulty getting confirmed.

Means’ languishing nomination after appearing for a confirmation hearing in February reflects the skepticism that lawmakers of both parties have expressed toward the direction Kennedy has taken his department.

___

AP writer Ali Swenson contributed to this report.

__

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press

by The Canadian Press

Other Matters

On Display
UBC Okanagan students present final-year art exhibition
UBC Okanagan students are showcasing their final projects in a year-end exhibition opening this week.The show, called Odds and Ends, features work from fourth-year students in the Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Media Studies programs. It includes a range of mediums such as sculpture, painting, photography, digit...
1h ago
Read More
Emergency Preparedness
Province preparing for flood, wildfire seasons
The B.C. Government is preparing for natural disasters heading into the spring and summer.The province warned in a release Thursday, April 16, that the warming weather raises the risk of climate-related emergencies, including spring flooding, drought and wildfires."Our government is continuing to strengthen mitiga...
1h ago
Read More
T-bone Crashes
Two collisions on 34th St. within 24 hours
A downtown Vernon road was the scene of two collisions over a short period of time.The first crash occurred around 4 p.m. Wednesday, at 34th Street and Coldstream Avenue behind the Sun Valley Centre.Vernon North Okanagan RCMP said a vehicle was travelling on 34th St. when it collided with another vehicle that pulled ou...
2h ago
Read More
Fueling Up For Charity
Beneficiaries sought for Fuel Good Day 2026
Armstrong Regional Co-op is once again ready to help local groups with a funding boost.The company (ARC) is running its Fuel Good Day on September 15, which will see 10 cents from every litre of fuel sold at participating stations go to support a local non-profit or charity.Each market with an ARC station will be selec...
4h ago
Read More
Natural Gas Outage
UPDATE: Crews continuing work to resolve gas outage for thousands in Lake Country, North Kelowna
UPDATE 2:30 p.m.Work to restore gas service to Lake Country and North Kelowna residents continue through Thursday.FortisBC said the outage affecting 6,200 customers requires gas meters be shut down, with over 1,300 of those shut off Wednesday night and approximately 60 technicians were continuing that work through Thur...
4h ago
Read More
Rockets refuse to fold
Kelowna Rockets force game five in thrilling OT win
Were you not entertained?On a night where their season teetered on the brink, the Kelowna Rockets delivered their most dramatic response of the year, maybe their most meaningful in years.Facing elimination Wednesday night at Prospera Place, the Rockets erased a 3-0 deficit after 40 minutes and stormed back for a stunni...
5h ago
Read More
$1.1 billion budget
Kelowna budget set for final approval
Kelowna City Council will have its final kick at the can for its 2026 budget on Monday, which features a 4.4 per cent tax increase.The $ 1.1 billion budget is guided by six community-driven priorities: crime and safety, transportation, homelessness, affordable housing, agriculture and environment, and the economy.Eleve...
10h ago
Read More
Toxic Drug Crisis
No Vernon fatal overdoses in February, 115 across B.C.
Vernon had a unique month with no illicit drug deaths recorded over the course of all of February.That's according to the B.C. Coroners Service, which said preliminary findings did not show any deaths in the North Okanagan city after seeing three such fatalities in January.The Coroners Service did record four fatal ove...
10h ago
Read More
Expanding energy
New West K transmission line: preferred route
BC Hydro has updated West Kelowna City Council on long terms plans for an additional key power transmission line.Preliminary design of the line's route and approvals will take two more years.Public consultation has shown opposition to visual impacts that would be caused by overhead pylons, so underground lines are favo...
22h ago
Read More

What Matters

Emergency Preparedness
Province preparing for flood, wildfire seasons
1h ago
T-bone Crashes
Two collisions on 34th St. within 24 hours
2h ago
Toxic Drug Crisis
No Vernon fatal overdoses in February, 115 across B.C.
9h ago
Investigation Ongoing
Arrest made in vandalism investigation
23h ago
Criminality Not Ruled Out
Death at Winter Carnival office considered 'suspicious', police ask for public assistance
Apr 15, 2026