New CDC Director Vows to 'Speak Truth' Amid Staff Cuts

The new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Erica Schwartz, told staff members Wednesday that the agency is prepared to handle disease outbreaks despite deep internal concerns over staffing cuts, according to a transcript of an agencywide meeting reviewed by NBC News.

It was Schwartz's first such meeting since taking over the agency this month. During a question-and-answer session, a staffer warned that a massive reduction in force was undermining the CDC's ability to respond to outbreaks such as measles and Ebola. About a quarter of the agency's workforce has left or been fired during President Donald Trump's second term.

"The brain drain is fierce," the staffer said. "How are we going to hold up CDC's image of being the gold standard when the back door and front door is wide open and people are leaving?"

Schwartz said she believed the agency was doing "a remarkable job" and would be ready for the next outbreak, though she acknowledged more could be done.

Schwartz is the CDC's first permanent director in a year, after Susan Monarez was fired last summer following clashes with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Schwartz, who served as deputy surgeon general during Trump's first term, said she has already met with Kennedy three or four times and feels "very comfortable" working with him, but pledged she would "continue to speak truth to power."

She inherits the largest measles outbreak in 35 years, with at least 2,566 confirmed cases nationwide, as the U.S. faces the potential loss of its measles elimination status later this year.

Schwartz also discussed a new vaccine task force created under a Trump executive order aimed at reducing the number of diseases children are vaccinated against. She said the task force, which includes representatives from the FDA and NIH and has not yet met, is not meant to replace the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, whose work has been on hold amid litigation after Kennedy fired its members. She said the task force would compile information on immunizations for ACIP to review once it is reconstituted. "I absolutely believe that vaccines are safe and effective," she told staff.

Schwartz also addressed safety concerns following the August 2025 shooting at the CDC's Atlanta campus that killed a police officer, appearing to choke up as she discussed creating a "psychologically safe environment" for employees.