New CDC Chief Pledges Truth Amid Measles Surge
New CDC Chief Pledges Truth Amid Measles Surge
The News
Dr. Erica Schwartz, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told employees Wednesday she will advocate for the agency and "speak truth" about science, while acknowledging that the CDC is understaffed and its workforce burned out.
It was her first large staff meeting since taking over, and she used it to admit the agency has real problems: congressionally funded programs are short the staff needed to run them.
She also said she would not hesitate to disagree with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. when necessary — but would not do it publicly.
The numbers
More than 3,000 employees — over a quarter of the CDC workforce — have left since January 2025.
The US has recorded 2,566 confirmed measles cases in 2026, the highest count since 1991.
More than 9,481 confirmed cyclospora illnesses, including two deaths, have been reported across 17 states.
Schwartz said the agency is prepared to handle a range of disease outbreaks, NBC News reported.
Timeline
Departures, layoffs and administrative leave strip more than 3,000 staff from the CDC.
Measles cases climb to 2,566 confirmed, the worst US outbreak in 35 years, alongside a multistate cyclospora outbreak and an Ebola outbreak abroad.
Schwartz holds her first large all-staff meeting, pledging to advocate for the agency and speak truth about science.
Reactions
Schwartz told staff she would raise disagreements with Kennedy privately rather than in public, according to The Boston Globe — a line that defines how she intends to handle political pressure from her own department.
The Washington Times reported she acknowledged that programs Congress funded lack the staff to operate and that employees are feeling burned out.
Writing in The Conversation, analysts framed her central test as defending the CDC's scientific independence amid multiple outbreaks and intense political pressure.
What's Next
Schwartz plans individual meetings with staff to map out program and staffing gaps.
A 90-day vaccine task force including CDC, FDA and NIH members has not yet met and is due to report to President Trump within 90 days.
A federal court has paused the reconstituted vaccine advisory committee, leaving childhood immunization guidance in legal limbo pending an appeals court ruling on the fired advisory panel members.
More
The core question hanging over Schwartz is whether pledges to speak truth internally and rebuild trust are enough given the scale of the workforce losses and the political fight over vaccine policy.
The agency is running three outbreak responses at once — measles, cyclospora and Ebola — with more than a quarter of its staff gone since the start of 2025.
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