Key Senate panel backs Trump’s picks for CDC, pandemic preparedness

WASHINGTON — The Senate health committee approved two nominees for key health roles Thursday, including the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a pandemic preparedness leader, after Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) once again set aside his reservations to support Trump administration leadership picks. The vote on Erica Schwartz for CDC director was approved by all Republicans and by Tim Kaine (D-Va.), with other Democrats opposed. Sean Kaufman won support from all Republicans to be assistant secretary for preparedness and response, and all Democrats were opposed. Schwartz’s confirmation was all but assured after both Cassidy and Kaine expressed support. But Kaufman’s fate had been more of a question mark, after Cassidy clashed with him during his confirmation hearing over his past remarks questioning vaccine safety, which were first reported by STAT. But on Thursday, Cassidy said he would approve Kaufman. “America is facing serious public health challenges,” Cassidy said, naming vaccine-preventable diseases and an Ebola outbreak in parts of Africa. He said there’s a need to strengthen the nation’s pandemic preparedness. Their nominations now move to the full Senate floor, where they are likely to be confirmed. Echoing his decision to support Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in February 2025, Cassidy once again relied on promises from officials at the Department of Health and Human Services to explain his vote for Kaufman. He said he agreed to back Kaufman after HHS officials—Cassidy didn’t say who—agreed to unspecified personnel changes, and to a restriction that the ASPR leader not be involved in vaccine policy decisions. Kennedy has broken some of the promises he apparently made to Cassidy to win his support – and it’s not clear why the Louisiana senator is choosing to trust him once again. The broken promises include firing a panel of vaccine advisers and handpicking a number of replacements, including some vaccine skeptics. HHS has also moved to unilaterally reduce the number of recommended pediatric vaccines, including delaying the hepatitis B birth dose, a move Cassidy has adamantly opposed. That’s on top of changes Kennedy made to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website that reversed the agency’s stance that vaccines do not cause autism. Last week, Cassidy said that HHS had agreed to revise the website, but, as of Thursday, it still raises unsupported questions about a possible link between shots and the disorder. Cassidy criticized the minimal changes as “almost an insult to the American people” in a recent CNN interview and suggested Thursday that more adjustments would be coming. “The administration is committed to continuing the work to remove vaccine misinformation from that website. This is something again that I’ll pay close attention to,” he said Thursday. The approvals are a win for President Trump and for Kennedy, whose department has been plagued by vacancies in key public health roles as the country confronts a number of public health crises, including measles outbreaks and a foodborne parasite. Cassidy did say he could hold up future health nominees, though his time on the Hill is limited. He lost his reelection bid this year following public criticism from Trump and Kennedy, who blamed the senator for blocking their Make America Healthy Again agenda. His committee will still need to consider Nicole Saphier, nominated for surgeon general, who has been more firm in her support of vaccines than prior nominees. Chris Klomp, a top Kennedy adviser and a seemingly trusted conduit between Kennedy and the White House, has also been nominated to be Kennedy’s second-in-command. Cassidy has called the pick “encouraging.” Schwartz was deputy surgeon general during the first Trump administration. During her confirmation hearing, she spoke about scaling up drive-through Covid-19 testing during the pandemic as well as her experience in health roles in the U.S. military. Cassidy repeatedly pressed her during the hearing on how she might stand up to political pressure from Kennedy or Trump, a question she mostly avoided answering. “After speaking with Dr. Schwartz again after the hearing, reviewing the transcript, and speaking to those who have served with her and know her well, I’m confident that she knows what she is doing,” Cassidy said last week. Kaufman has previously served as a CDC adviser and co-founded Safer Behaviors, a health care consulting firm focused on biosecurity. In a series of posts over the last five years, including at least one now-deleted post, Kaufman questioned the safety of vaccines, argued against giving infants the hepatitis B shot, and made the case that the shot may be linked to an increase in autism cases. Decades of research has not found a connection between vaccines and the prevalence of autism. Cassidy heavily criticized Kaufman for these remarks during the hearing, and Kaufman endorsed vaccines during his opening statement. Kaufman said some “stupid and irresponsible things” about vaccines, Cassidy said Thursday. “He has owned up to that in his conversations with me.” This story has been updated with additional comments from Cassidy.