Schwartz appeared to be on shaky ground after a hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee this month. The front office has been staffed by political appointees with little or no training in medicine or public health. At the hearing, Schwartz said she was unaware that CDC programs that worked to prevent smoking and promote vaccinations had been curtailed. Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, interpreted Schwartz’s performance as someone trying to please different factions. Since then there have been a series of HHS officials as acting CDC director.