WASHINGTON — The Senate Health Committee on Thursday approved two nominees for key health positions, including director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and pandemic response leader, after Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.) once again put aside his reservations to support the Trump administration’s leadership picks.
The vote to select Erika Schwartz as CDC director was approved by all Republicans and Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), but other Democrats opposed. Sean Kaufman secured the support of all Republicans to become assistant secretary for preparedness and response, but all Democrats opposed him.
Nominees to key federal health roles have histories of doubts about vaccines.
With both Cassidy and Kaine expressing their support, Schwartz’s approval is all but certain. But Kaufman’s fate has been in question since Cassidy clashed with Kaufman during his confirmation hearing over past comments that questioned the safety of vaccines, which was first reported by STAT.
But on Thursday, Mr. Cassidy said he would approve Mr. Kaufman. “America faces serious public health challenges,” Cassidy said, citing vaccine-preventable diseases and the Ebola outbreak in parts of Africa. He said the country’s pandemic preparedness needs to be strengthened.
Their nominations now move to the full Senate, where they are likely to be approved.
Mr. Cassidy again relied on promises from Health and Human Services officials to explain his vote for Mr. Kaufman, following through on his decision to endorse Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in February 2025. He said he agreed to support Kaufman after HHS officials, whom Cassidy did not identify, agreed to unspecified personnel changes and a restriction that ASPR leaders would not be involved in vaccine policy decisions.
Kennedy broke some As for the promises he apparently made to Cassidy to gain support, it’s unclear why the Louisiana senator chose to trust him again. Broken promises include the firing of the vaccine advisory committee and the hand-picking of a number of replacements, including some vaccine skeptics.
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HHS has also moved to unilaterally reduce the number of childhood vaccines it recommends, including deferring the birth dose for hepatitis B, something Cassidy adamantly opposes.
This comes in addition to changes President Kennedy made to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website, reversing the center’s position that vaccines do not cause autism.
Cassidy said last week that HHS agreed to revise the website, but as of Thursday, unsubstantiated questions were still being raised about a possible link between vaccination and the disease. Cassidy criticized the minimal changes in a recent CNN interview as “almost an insult to the American people” and suggested further adjustments would be made on Thursday.
“My administration is committed to continuing to remove vaccine misinformation from our websites, and I will continue to pay close attention to this,” he said Thursday.
The confirmation is a victory for President Trump and Kennedy. The department has been plagued by vacancies in key public health roles as the country faces a number of public health crises, including measles outbreaks and foodborne parasites.
Cassidy said that although his time on the Hill is limited, he may endorse future health insurance candidates. He lost his bid for reelection this year after public criticism from Trump and Kennedy, who accused the senator of blocking a plan to “make America healthy.”
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His committee should continue to consider Nicole Safier, the nominee for Surgeon General, who has been more staunchly pro-vaccine than previous candidates. Chris Klomp, Kennedy’s top adviser and believed to be a trusted conduit between Kennedy and the White House, has also been named Kennedy’s second-in-command. Cassidy called the nomination “reassuring.”
Schwartz served as deputy surgeon general during the first Trump administration. During her confirmation hearing, she spoke about scaling up drive-thru COVID-19 testing during the pandemic and her experience working in health roles in the U.S. military. During the hearing, Cassidy was repeatedly asked how he would deal with political pressure from Kennedy and Trump, a question he mostly avoided answering.
“After speaking with Dr. Schwartz again after the hearing, reviewing the record, and speaking with people who have served her and know her well, I am confident that she knows what she is doing,” Cassidy said last week.
Kaufman has previously served as an advisor to the CDC and co-founded Safer Behaviors, a healthcare consulting firm focused on biosecurity.
In a series of posts over the past five years, including at least one now-deleted post, Kaufman questioned the safety of vaccines, opposed giving hepatitis B vaccines to infants, and claimed vaccinations may be linked to an increase in autism cases. Decades of research have found no link between vaccines and autism prevalence. Mr. Cassidy harshly criticized Mr. Kaufman for these comments during the hearing, and Mr. Kaufman supported vaccines in his opening statement.
Cassidy said Thursday that Kaufman had made “stupid and irresponsible statements” about vaccines. “He acknowledged that in his conversations with me.”
This article has been updated with comment from Cassidy.
