Dr. Erica Schwartz went before a Senate committee on Wednesday to answer questions about becoming the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Trump picked her for the job in mid-April, and Wednesday's hearing was her first public appearance since the announcement NPR.

The hearing was held at 10 a.m. in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee ran it as a joint hearing, also considering another nominee at the same time Senate HELP Committee.

If confirmed, Schwartz would work under Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who leads the Department of Health and Human Services. The CDC has not had a permanent director confirmed by the Senate for most of Trump's second term. Schwartz is the third person Trump has nominated for this job. His first choice, Dr. Dave Weldon, withdrew before his hearing after it became clear he did not have enough votes to pass. His second choice, Susan Monarez, got confirmed but was fired by Kennedy after less than a month NPR.

Schwartz is a retired admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service. She has degrees in medicine, law, and public health. During her career, she worked as the top doctor for the U.S. Coast Guard and served as deputy surgeon general under Trump in his first term. Her background in federal health jobs is stronger than the two people Trump nominated before her.

One thing senators were expected to ask about: Schwartz posted messages supporting vaccines on Instagram earlier this year. She took down that account shortly after Trump named her for the CDC job NPR. This is a problem because Kennedy wants to change how the federal government handles vaccines. A federal judge has already stopped some of his planned changes NPR.

Before Wednesday, reports said Schwartz was likely to be confirmed. Her military background and experience in federal health offices give her more credibility than the two nominees who came before her. The committee did not show the same kind of vote-counting problem that stopped Weldon's nomination.

This hearing was one of several nominations the Senate was considering around the same time AOL/Reuters.

The pattern with the CDC job is striking: three nominees in a year and a half. The first one withdrew before a vote. The second one got confirmed but was fired weeks later. Now Schwartz is facing questions about whether her support for vaccines fits with Kennedy's plans. Her strong background in federal health work seems designed to avoid the vote problems that ended Weldon's nomination. Whether it solves the policy clash that cost Monarez her job is still unclear.