Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on July 23 said he is supporting President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Erica Schwartz.
Cassidy had questioned during Schwartz’s recent confirmation hearing whether she would stand up to officials such as Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. if the Senate confirms her as CDC director.
“CDC needs someone who understands that the way to prevent vaccine-preventable diseases is to reassure the public that vaccines are safe and effective,” Cassidy, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, said during a hearing in Washington on Thursday.
“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’s doing and will stand against those who do not.”
Cassidy has opposed a number of actions taken by health agencies under Kennedy, including the CDC rescinding its previous stance that vaccines do not cause autism. Health officials, “as a sign of good faith,” altered a portion of that page this week, Cassidy said on Thursday.
A review of the page showed that the phrase “The header ‘Vaccines do not cause autism’ has not been removed due to an agreement with the chair of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee” was replaced with: “Scientists have not identified the root causes of autism. HHS continues to support rigorous scientific research and will update this page as reliable new evidence becomes available.”
Cassidy had said at the start of Schwartz’s confirmation hearing that vaccines are safe and effective.
“Any equivocation on these facts and I shall not be able to support your nomination,” he said.
Schwartz told senators that she supports vaccines and singled out her belief that shots that utilize messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology work well and are safe.
Asked whether she would stand up to officials if she were told to “do something which is wrong for public health,” she said that she has and will lead with integrity.
Susan Monarez, whom the Senate confirmed to lead the CDC in 2025, was fired after a month in office because she clashed with Kennedy over how to handle advice from a vaccine advisory panel that was selected by the health secretary.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) talks to the media as he walks to the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on March 7, 2024. (Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo)
The scheduled vote for Schwartz on Thursday was postponed until next week because not all Republican senators were there, a spokesperson for the committee told The Epoch Times in an email.
The Senate health committee was also supposed to vote on the nomination of Sean Kaufman to be assistant health secretary for preparedness and response.
“There are ongoing conversations with the administration on the path forward for Mr. Kaufman’s nomination,” a spokesperson for the committee told The Epoch Times in an email.
Sean Kaufman, nominee for assistant secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Preparedness and Response, testifies before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on July 15, 2026. (Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times)
Kaufman told the senator, “I believe 100 percent that vaccines are safe and effective and that we should have conversations with our physicians to make a determination on which and what is the best risk-benefit equation for that patient.”