New CDC director acknowledges agency problems in first large staff
meeting
[August 20, 2026]
By MIKE STOBBE
NEW YORK (AP) — In her first large staff meeting, the new director of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention promised Wednesday to
advocate for the agency while acknowledging that congressionally funded
programs lacked staff and employees were feeling burned out.
Dr. Erica Schwartz also said she wouldn’t hesitate to disagree with U.S.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. if necessary — but said she
wouldn’t do so publicly.
Schwartz started at the head of the Atlanta-based federal agency last
week, taking the reins from a series of temporary directors. She spoke
to CDC employees Wednesday at her first “all hands” staff meeting. The
Associated Press heard a recording of the meeting.
Schwartz mentioned an AP story this week about CDC programs that have
congressional appropriations but functionally are dead or nearly dead
because the CDC staffers who did the work were laid off by President
Donald Trump’s administration or remain on leave.
She did not say exactly what she will do about these “zombie" programs
and about staffers who feel exhausted and overloaded, but said she will
meet with CDC staffers to learn more about the situation and what can be
done.
“The good news is, I’m here,” she said. “I’m Week 1 of being here, and
now I can certainly be able to advocate for the CDC. I think when you
have (had) that leadership vacuum, it’s, you know, it’s hard to get that
advocacy.”
Schwartz previously served in uniformed government jobs with the U.S.
Coast Guard and the U.S. Public Health Service. When she disagrees with
other leaders she does so in private, “because that’s just part of the
uniformed service person in me,” she said. She said she would continue
to do so, but “not in front of the media.”
She also promised to build public trust in the agency through “radical
transparency, scientific rigor and honest communications,” echoing
language used by Kennedy.
Schwartz is the 22nd leader of the CDC, which is charged with protecting
Americans from preventable health threats. In her talk Wednesday, she
acknowledged the challenges agency employees have faced.
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Dr. 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,
File)
 Largely due to layoffs and
resignations, the agency has lost 3,000-plus employees, more than
one-quarter of its workforce. Morale has plummeted as a succession
of mostly temporary leaders has come and gone. The front office has
been staffed by political appointees with little or no training in
medicine or public health.
Kennedy, a leading voice in the anti-vaccine movement, took several
steps that ran counter to CDC research and recommendations,
including disbanding an expert advisory committee and appointing his
own panel that included several vaccine skeptics.
CDC staffers asked questions Wednesday, including one about Trump's
executive order calling for revamped childhood vaccine
recommendations that promote his long-held but discredited theory
that childhood shots should be spaced out into separate medical
visits.
Schwartz said a task force on childhood vaccine safety is being
established and she is on the panel. It has not met yet, she said.
The panel has been given 90 days to report to Trump, she added.
Some current and former CDC employees said Schwartz appeared to be
earnest, but want to see what she does.
The National Public Health Coalition, an organization of former and
current CDC workers, issued a statement after the meeting.
“CDC staff and the American people deserve a strong, independent
leader who will follow the science, defend public health expertise
and put the health and safety of the public ahead of political
pressure,” the statement said. “Dr. Schwartz has spoken about
rebuilding trust. That trust must be earned through action."
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