The health committee of the U.S. Senate gave their approval on Wednesday for Susan Monarez to head the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, moving her a step closer to confirmation as President Donald Trump’s choice.

The committee voted 12-11 for advancing her nomination to the full Senate. The vote went along party lines, with Democrats in opposition.

At 50 years old, Monarez stands to be the first director of the CDC to undergo the Senate confirmation process due to a law enacted in 2023. Initially appointed as acting director in January, she was officially nominated in March after President Trump unexpectedly retracted his initial nominee, David Weldon.

Monarez earned her doctorate in microbiology and immunology from the University of Wisconsin and completed postdoctoral research at Stanford University. Before joining the CDC, she was well-regarded for her contributions to government work in health technology and biosecurity.

The committee’s action comes after months of turmoil with no leader at the helm of the Atlanta-based federal agency tasked with tracking diseases and responding to health threats.

The CDC has been hit by widespread staff cuts, resignations of key officials and heated controversy over longstanding CDC vaccine policies upended by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Last month, Monarez told senators that she values vaccines, public health interventions and rigorous scientific evidence, but she largely dodged questions about whether those positions put her at odds with Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic who has criticized and sought to dismantle some of the agency’s previous protocols and decisions.

“Unfortunately, Dr. Monarez — who has served as Trump’s acting CDC director — has done nothing to stand in the way” of Kennedy’s actions, Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, said Wednesday.

The CDC was created nearly 80 years ago to prevent the spread of malaria in the U.S. Its mission was later expanded, and it gradually became a global leader on infectious and chronic diseases and a go-to source of health information.

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