2026年4月17日 美国东部时间18:53 / CNN
作者：亚当·坎ryn、萨拉·奥沃莫勒
过去一年来，美国疾病控制与预防中心经历了创伤性枪击事件、领导层突然更迭，以及其作为全球受尊重公共卫生机构的形象崩塌。
因此，当特朗普政府开始寻找新任疾控中心主任时，一项要求成为了招聘标准的重中之重。
“我们只需要一个不疯的人，”一名白宫官员告诉CNN。
经过数月努力，特朗普官员最终认为他们找到了合适的人选。
据资深卫生官员及知情人士透露，选择前副卫生局局长、已退休的美国海岸警卫队军官埃丽卡·施瓦茨执掌疾控中心，旨在为该机构带来稳定。过去一年的持续动荡严重打击了员工士气，也极大动摇了美国民众对政府卫生议程的信心。
与此前政府考虑的候选人截然不同，施瓦茨并未一味附和“让美国再次健康”的口号。她拥有丰富的政府疫苗项目指导和危机应对经验，这与特朗普提名的首位疾控中心主任人选形成鲜明对比——后者的提名最终被撤回，部分原因是其疫苗怀疑论立场显然会阻碍提名获批。
她的候选资格已获得国会山的好评，政府内部希望她能快速获得确认。
随着白宫将注意力转向中期选举，这一举措最新表明，特朗普助手们已大幅收紧了由小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪领导的卫生与公众服务部的权力。该部门此前拥有广泛自主权，曾推行极具争议的疫苗改革及其他核心卫生政策。
但这一举措已让“让美国再次健康”的忠实支持者感到不安，同时仍有一些主流公共卫生专家对此持怀疑态度。
约翰·霍普金斯大学健康安全中心高级学者、传染病学会发言人阿梅什·阿达利亚博士表示：“她是一名优秀且资历过硬的提名人选，放在任何政府中都合格。但问题不在于她的资质，而在于她将要履职的环境。如果这是要摆脱过去一年的种种乱象，那么只要小罗伯特·肯尼迪仍在职，一切都只是表面功夫。”
与此同时，知名疫苗批评家托比·罗杰斯在X平台上宣称，施瓦茨的任命“是对2016年和2024年将特朗普送入总统宝座的医疗自由阵营的一记耳光”。
“白宫此时甚至都不想为中期选举争取选民了，”他补充道。
白宫未回应置评请求。
显著转变
2025年4月1日，位于佐治亚州亚特兰大的美国疾病控制与预防中心大楼。
本·格雷/美联社/档案照片
白宫迫切希望在中期选举前让卫生部摆脱负面新闻——此次选举可能会让共和党失去对国会的掌控，并阻碍唐纳德·特朗普总统的议程推进。
疫苗问题尤其成为争议焦点。特朗普撤回了首位提名人选——前国会议员戴夫·韦尔登医生，因为事实证明其疫苗观点会阻碍提名投票。
获确认的疾控中心主任苏珊·莫纳雷斯是一名科学家和资深公共卫生官员，她很快就疫苗政策与肯尼迪产生冲突，并反对其罢免疾控中心部分高级官员的举措。上任不到一个月，她就被解职。
去年8月莫纳雷斯高调离职后，一些特朗普官员质疑是否还值得为该机构寻找另一位提名人选。
肯尼迪任命其当时的副国务卿吉姆·奥尼尔担任代理负责人，并试图将大部分决策权集中在华盛顿的卫生部政治领导层手中。
但据知情人士透露，白宫和卫生部的高级官员很快就对奥尼尔感到不满：他几乎从未在疾控中心位于亚特兰大的总部办公，且在政治任命官员眼中并非合格的公共沟通者。
该机构目前由杰伊·巴塔查里亚监管，他在3月前担任代理主任，目前仍负责部分工作；巴塔查里亚同时也是美国国立卫生研究院院长。
与此同时，白宫对卫生部持续的内部动荡日益不满，并对民调感到担忧——民调显示，肯尼迪的疫苗议程可能会拖累共和党在中期选举中的表现。
在卫生部预算听证会上的前两天，这种将卫生信息转向更民粹主义立场的努力显而易见。肯尼迪在听证会上遭到民主党议员就麻疹疫情、疫苗安全性和自闭症病因的质询，还被提及一本援引肯尼迪所谓日记的书中披露的至少一段涉及浣熊生殖器的内容。
这位部长时而为自己的行为辩护，时而承诺做出改进，尤其是在疾控中心方面。他承认，去年在裁员和高级官员离职的背景下，疾控中心的士气处于“谷底”。
“我认为这个新团队将真正能够彻底革新疾控中心，使其重回正轨，”他周四在众议院拨款小组委员会上谈到施瓦茨和三名新任命的公共卫生官员时表示。
美国卫生与公众服务部部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪于2026年4月17日在众议院教育与劳工委员会听证会上作证。
凯莉·库珀/路透社
在此次提名前，白宫内部就整顿卫生部的混乱局面进行了数月的内部讨论。
1月下旬，白宫办公厅主任苏西·威尔斯下令对该部门进行审查。此后，白宫官员与肯尼迪合作策划了卫生部领导层的改组，包括罢免奥尼尔，并在该部门高层任命新顾问。
三名知情人士告诉CNN，其中一名顾问——医疗保险负责人克里斯·克伦普被任命为卫生部首席顾问，此后迅速采取行动稳定卫生部及其各下属机构。这些人士表示，克伦普在白宫内部颇受欢迎，对人事决策和其他关键事务拥有显著影响力。
优先事项之一是找到一位能够胜任疾控中心主任职务的永久人选——至关重要的是，避免让政府再次陷入可能分散白宫核心中期选举信息注意力的破坏性新闻周期。
消息人士称，克伦普在过去几周牵头了候选人遴选和面试工作，寻求足够主流、能在势均力敌的参议院获得确认，同时愿意与肯尼迪密切合作，全面改革疾控中心的官员。
两位熟悉遴选流程的消息人士透露，此次遴选标准的一个显著转变是，不再要求候选人认同肯尼迪的疫苗怀疑论。两位知情人士表示，肯尼迪最初对施瓦茨作为潜在候选人持怀疑态度，但在与她会面后态度变得更为支持，最终批准了向白宫推荐她的提议。
肯尼迪的权力正在减弱？
在 tighter control of HHS’ activities，更准确译法为“ tighter control over HHS operations”，即“更紧密掌控卫生部运作”后，白宫官员已劝阻肯尼迪及其助手公开讨论其改革疫苗政策的努力——他们认为这一问题对选民而言具有政治毒性，且不利于中期选举。
为进一步表明卫生部致力于稳定该机构，官员们还提前安排了计划在施瓦茨上任前后任命的高级顾问。其中包括沃尔玛前高管肖恩·斯洛文斯基、德克萨斯州卫生专员詹妮弗·舒福德，以及食品药品监督管理局高级官员萨拉·布伦纳。
其中一名知情人士表示，布伦纳是一名职业官员，在本届政府初期与肯尼迪立场一致，预计将担任肯尼迪与亚特兰大疾控中心领导层之间的联络人，同时担任肯尼迪在该机构优先事项方面的高级顾问。
熟悉这位部长想法的人士表示，肯尼迪在很大程度上默许了近几个月来白宫主导的改革，因为他牢记要与特朗普保持密切关系，并且仍相信自己能够在一些个人优先事项上取得进展。
一名女子在2025年9月9日国会山参议院国土安全与政府事务小组委员会听证会上戴着一顶写有“让美国再次健康”的红色帽子。
安德鲁·哈恩/盖蒂图片社/档案照片
预计他将在中期选举前的几个月里四处奔波，宣传政府在健康饮食和降低药品价格方面的工作。他基本不再公开讨论进一步的疫苗政策调整，并默许了白宫推动一种他曾明确反对的杀虫剂的努力。
但对于一些曾将肯尼迪执掌卫生部视为医疗革命开端的亲密支持者而言，这种突然回归更传统优先事项的做法越来越难以接受。
曾担任肯尼迪私人律师、试图推翻联邦疫苗政策的疫苗伤害律师亚伦·西里告诉CNN：“施瓦茨可能只会让疾控中心恢复到以往的运作模式——为行业摇旗呐喊，而非对行业进行监管。”
“我相信，如果任由肯尼迪自行其是，他绝不会选择她，”他补充道。
‘We just need someone who’s not crazy’: Inside the White House decision to nominate Erica Schwartz as CDC director
2026-04-17 6:53 PM ET / CNN
By Adam Cancryn, Sarah Owermohle
Over the course of 12 months, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has seen a traumatic shooting, abrupt leadership changes and a shattering of its image as a globally respected public health agency.
So by the time the Trump administration started looking for a new director, there was one requirement that topped the search criteria.
“We just need someone who’s not crazy,” a White House official told CNN.
It took months, but Trump officials finally think they’ve found the right candidate.
The choice of Erica Schwartz, a former deputy surgeon general and retired US Coast Guard officer, to run the CDC is aimed at bringing stability to the agency after a year of near-constant upheaval that has decimated morale and deeply shaken Americans’ faith in the administration’s health agenda, senior health officials and others familiar with the matter said.
Schwartz is a notable departure from prior contenders considered by the administration, who have toed the “Make America Healthy Again” line. She has a lengthy record of guiding vaccination programs and crises responses for the government – a stark contrast to Trump’s first CDC pick, whose nomination was withdrawn, in part, because it became clear his vaccine skepticism would prevent him from getting the job.
Her candidacy has already won praise on Capitol Hill, generating hope within the administration that she’ll win quick confirmation.
And as the White House intensifies its focus on the midterm elections, the move is the latest sign of how significantly Trump aides have sought to rein in a Health and Human Services Department led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that once enjoyed wide latitude to pursue divisive efforts to overhaul vaccines and other core health policies.
But the move has already shaken the MAHA faithful, while still leaving some mainstream public health experts unconvinced.
“She’s a good and well-qualified nominee, and would be in any administration. However, the issue is not her qualifications — it’s the environment that she’s being asked to work in,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. “If this is supposed to be some kind of pivot away from what’s been going on for the last year, it will all be window dressing if RFK Jr. is still in place.”
Meanwhile, Toby Rogers, a prominent vaccine critic, declared on X that Schwartz’s appointment would be “a slap in the face to the medical freedom base that gave Trump the presidency in 2016 and 2024.”
“The White House isn’t even trying to win the midterms at this point,” he added.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
A notable shift
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention building in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 1, 2025.
Ben Gray/AP/File
The White House has been eager to get the health department away from unflattering headlines in the run-up to midterm elections that could cost Republicans control of Congress — and stall President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Vaccines had been a particular sticking point. Trump withdrew his first nominee, former congressman Dr. Dave Weldon, when it became clear his vaccine views would stall a vote.
The CDC director who was confirmed, Dr. Susan Monarez — a scientist and longtime public health official — immediately clashed with Kennedy over vaccine policies and his efforts to oust some senior CDC officials. She was removed less than a month into the job.
After Monarez’s high-profile departure last August, some Trump officials questioned whether it was even worth attempting to find another nominee to run the agency.
Kennedy installed his then-deputy secretary, Jim O’Neill, as interim head, and sought to concentrate much of the decision-making among the department’s political leadership in Washington.
Yet senior White House and HHS officials soon soured on O’Neill, who rarely spent any time at the CDC’s Atlanta headquarters and was seen among political appointees as a subpar public communicator, according to people familiar with the matter.
The agency is currently being overseen by Jay Bhattacharya, who was acting director until March, and is still managing some duties; Bhattacharya is also director of the National Institutes of Health.
The White House, in the meantime, grew increasingly frustrated with HHS’ constant internal upheaval and was alarmed by polling showing that Kennedy’s vaccine agenda threatened to drag down the GOP in the midterms.
The struggle to steer health messaging onto more populist ground was evident in the first two days of HHS budget hearings, where Kennedy was interrogated by Democrats on measles outbreaks, vaccine safety, and the causes of autism, along with at least one reference to raccoon genitalia that was recently disclosed in a book citing Kennedy’s alleged diary entries.
The secretary variously defended his actions and promised improvements, particularly at the CDC, where he conceded morale was at a “nadir” last year amid layoffs and high-profile departures.
“I think this new team is really going to be able to revolutionize CDC and get it back on track,” he said before the House Appropriations subcommittee on Thursday, referencing Schwartz and three new public health appointees.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies before a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing on April 17, 2026.
Kylie Cooper/Reuters
Several months of internal discussions about smoothing out the HHS upheaval preceded the pick.
In late January, Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, ordered a review of the department. Afterward, White House officials worked alongside Kennedy to orchestrate a shakeup of HHS leadership, including jettisoning O’Neill and installing new advisers atop the department.
One of those advisers, Medicare chief Chris Klomp, was named HHS’ chief counselor and has since moved quickly to stabilize HHS and its various sub-agencies, three people familiar with the situation told CNN. Klomp is well liked within the White House and has come to wield remarkable influence over personnel decisions and other critical activities, those people said.
Among the priorities was to find a permanent CDC director who could ably run the agency — and crucially, avoid subjecting the administration to yet more damaging news cycles that would distract from the White House’s core midterms message.
Klomp led the effort to identify and interview candidates over the last several weeks, the sources said, seeking officials mainstream enough to win confirmation in a closely divided Senate, yet still willing to work closely with Kennedy on a broader overhaul of the CDC.
In a notable shift, that criteria did not include sharing Kennedy’s skepticism of vaccines, two of the sources familiar with the selection process said. Kennedy was initially skeptical of Schwartz as a potential candidate, two people familiar with the matter said, but grew more supportive after meeting with her, ultimately signing off on her recommendation to the White House.
Kennedy’s power on the wane?
Since taking tighter control of HHS’ activities, White House officials have discouraged Kennedy and his aides from publicly discussing their efforts to overhaul vaccine policies — viewing the issue as politically toxic to voters and unhelpful ahead of the midterms.
In a further effort to signal HHS’ renewed commitment to stabilizing the agency, officials also pre-emptively lined up top advisers whom they planned to appoint around Schwartz. They include former Walmart executive Sean Slovenski, Texas health commissioner Jennifer Shuford and senior Food and Drug Administration official Sara Brenner.
Brenner, a career staffer who closely aligned herself with Kennedy at the outset of the administration, is expected to serve as a liaison between Kennedy and the CDC’s leadership in Atlanta, one of the people said, while also serving as a top adviser to Kennedy on the agency’s priorities.
Kennedy has largely gone along with the changes overseen by the White House in recent months, mindful of remaining close to Trump and still of the belief that he can make headway on some of his own personal priorities, people familiar with the secretary’s thinking said.
A woman wears a red hat reading “Make America Healthy Again” during a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Subcommittee Hearing, on Capitol Hill on September 9, 2025.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/File
He is expected to spend much of the months leading up to the midterms on the road, talking up the administration’s work on healthier eating and lower drug prices. He has largely dropped any public discussion of further vaccine changes, and acquiesced to a White House effort to boost a pesticide that he had once vocally opposed.
Yet for some close Kennedy supporters who once heralded his appointment atop HHS as the start of a health care revolution, the sudden reversion back to a more traditional set of priorities has proven increasingly tough to swallow.
Aaron Siri, a vaccine injury lawyer who has worked as Kennedy’s personal attorney and sought to unravel federal vaccine policies, told CNN: “The only thing [Schwartz] will likely restore is the CDC to business as usual – cheerleading for industry instead of being a regulator over industry.”
“I believe that left to his own devices, Secretary Kennedy would not have chosen her,” he added.
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