CDC director says RFK Jr. has final say

In her first interview since taking leadership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Erica Schwartz told Atlanta News First that she isn’t afraid to disagree with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Schwartz emphasized that any kind of disagreement will happen behind closed doors , and she won’t publicly contradict Kennedy.

“In the uniformed services, we have something called ‘but sir, but ma’am,’ which basically means you can disagree with your superiors,” Schwartz said. “Secretary Kennedy and I have worked together for five weeks now, and I can tell you there have been a few ‘but sirs’ behind closed doors.”

However, Schwartz said that even if she disagrees, Kennedy is her boss and makes the final decisions.

“At the end of the day, he’s the Secretary of HHS ,” Schwartz said. “And at the end of the day, he’s going to make the decisions.”

Schwartz’s comments mark a strong contrast with the previous CDC director Susan Monarez, who pushed back against Kennedy’s vaccine agenda and was fired after being on the job less than a month.

Schwartz, deputy surgeon general in the first Trump administration and a top Coast Guard health official, has publicly supported childhood vaccines and was viewed as a highly qualified, mainstream choice who could bring stability back to CDC.

But Democrats and even GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) expressed serious doubts about her willingness and ability to push back against Kennedy’s policies and stand up for science.

Amid the country’s record-setting measles outbreak, Schwartz is facing criticism for directing the CDC to dispute four measles-associated deaths in Pennsylvania and decline to include them in the agency’s official tally of cases and deaths.

The move followed public comments from Kennedy calling the reports “fabricated” and an ongoing political feud between Kennedy and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D). In an Oval Office event Friday, Kennedy doubled down when asked about measles, calling the deaths “alleged.”

Schwartz characterized the controversy as a technical dispute, and said CDC doesn’t yet have a standardized definition of a measles—related death. In the interview, Schwartz drew a comparison to the disputes about COVID-19 deaths. “If someone got hit by a bus, and they happened to have COVID, often that was called a COVID-related death,” Schwartz said.

But Pennsylvania officials have said their definition is based on how CDC classifies other respiratory virus deaths . They won’t count it if someone obviously dies from an unrelated event, like a car crash.

Welcome to The Hill’s Healthcare newsletter , we’re Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.

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How policy will be impacting the healthcare sector this week and beyond:

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RFK Jr. says anti-vaccine group has a ‘friend at the White House’

Speaking to the anti-vaccine group he once led, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Thursday the Trump administration supports its cause. “You have a strong and steadfast friend at the White House,” Kennedy told dozens of attendees at a one-day conference put on by Children’s Health Defense, the organization he co-founded and led from 2015 to 2023. Kennedy’s appearance at the conference …

Local and state headlines on healthcare:

California eyes prison heat protections that fall short of other workplaces’ ( Capital and Main )

Philadelphia health leaders warn of possible measles exposure reported at CHOP’s NICU ( WHYY )

Ballot measure could auto-repeal Medicaid expansion, attorney general says in contrast to lawmakers ( South Dakota Searchlight )

Health news we’ve flagged from other outlets:

In Sudan, attacks on hospitals force patients to make dangerous journeys ( Stat )

The drugs and devices have been on the market for years. But FDA-ordered studies still aren’t done ( KFF Health News )

RFK Jr. got free flights to Fiji and Greece from a top donor ( Wall Street Journal )

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