Dr. Erica Schwartz faces a Senate confirmation hearing for CDC director.

US Department of Health and Human Services

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US Department of Health and Human Services

Dr. Erica Schwartz, Trump’s latest nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will appear before a Senate committee Wednesday morning to answer questions about her vision and qualifications for the position.

The confirmation hearing, with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, will be Schwartz’s first public appearance since Trump nominated her for the position in mid-April. Schwartz is Trump’s third nominee to lead the country’s embattled public health agency, which has been without a permanent director for most of Trump’s second term.

If confirmed, Schwartz will work under the direction of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC.

Schwartz is a retired rear admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, with degrees in medicine, law and public health. She previously served as chief medical officer of the U.S. Coast Guard and as deputy surgeon general in the first Trump administration.

Earlier this year, on Instagram, Schwartz expressed support for vaccines as tools to prevent disease and prevent readiness in the military. (Her Instagram page was deleted shortly after she was nominated for the CDC director position.)

Public health veterans say she has the credentials and experience for the job. “People are very optimistic about her candidacy and supportive of her being in office,” says Dr. Marcus Plescia, health director for the Fulton County district, which includes Atlanta, where the CDC is based.

“What we really need now is a CDC director who can step in and be a spokesperson for some of the emerging issues we face,” Plescia says, “We need someone in that position who can come in, get established, and be there to stay.”

Schwartz is generally expected to clear the Senate confirmation process. However, the role comes with great challenges and difficulties.

Health Secretary Kennedy took office with an agenda to change vaccine policy. In recent months, its changes have been largely blocked by a federal judge, but the intent remains, Dr. Georges Benjamin, director of the American Public Health Association, told NPR. “The political agenda is still there,” he says.