New CDC director pledges to ‘speak truth’ about science

The new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Erica Schwartz, said Wednesday that the agency is prepared to handle a variety of disease outbreaks, despite internal concerns about drastic cuts to CDC staff and programs.

Schwartz made the remarks during an internal meeting with CDC staff. NBC News reviewed a transcript of the agency-wide meeting, Schwartz’s first since taking the helm of the agency earlier this month.

In a question and answer portion of the event, one staffer expressed concern about the agency’s ability to continue the high level of detailed work necessary to address ongoing outbreaks such as measles and Ebola following a massive reduction in force.

About a quarter of the CDC’s workforce either have left the agency or were fired during President Donald Trump’s second term.

“The brain drain is fierce,” the staffer said, according to the transcript. “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 that despite the turmoil she thought the agency was doing “a remarkable job.”

“Can we do more? Certainly. We can do more. Will we be prepared for the next outbreak? I think we will be,” she said.

Schwartz is the CDC’s first permanent leader in a year. Former director Susan Monarez was fired last summer less than a month into the role after clashing with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Schwartz, who served as deputy surgeon general during Trump’s first term, told employees she feels “very comfortable” dealing with Kennedy, adding that she’s already had “three or four” meetings with him.

“But just know that I will continue to speak truth to power,” she said.

Schwartz has inherited the largest outbreak of measles in 35 years, with at least 2,566 confirmed illnesses across the country and the U.S. facing the loss of elimination status later this year.

During the meeting, Schwartz said she would be part of a vaccine task force that was established as part of Trump’s executive order to cut the number of contagious diseases children are protected against through vaccination. The task force, which hasn’t met yet, also includes members of the Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health.

Schwartz said it was her understanding that the task force is not designed to replace the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a group of independent advisors that makes recommendations to the CDC on which Americans should get vaccines and when. This includes childhood vaccinations.

Schwartz, who was deputy U.S. surgeon general during Trump’s first term, told staff, “I absolutely believe that vaccines are safe and effective.”