Three key Trump administration leadership nominees went before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Wednesday where lawmakers grilled them on measles, vaccines, and more.
The nominees in attendance were Nicole Saphier, M.D., for medical director in the Regular Corps of the Public Health Service and surgeon general; Chris Klomp for deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); and Timothy Westlake, M.D., for assistant secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use.
Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, M.D., R-La., opened the hearing with remarks on the current measles outbreak in the U.S.—which has been linked to four deaths in Pennsylvania, though HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others are at odds with state health officials.
“It deeply concerns me to see politicians giving medical advice which has zero scientific backing,” Cassidy said. “Scaring mothers into delaying or even altogether skipping their child's vaccine is wrong, and it makes America sicker, not healthier. We need leaders who are unbiased, who make decisions based on science, not politics or ideology, and who are committed to protecting children's health.”
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said Americans want to know public health leaders “have their best interests in mind.”
“We have had nominee after nominee come before this committee and pledge to stand up for science and follow the law rather than the whims of Secretary Kennedy,” Baldwin said. “Yet I have seen little evidence that once confirmed these leaders abide by those commitments and do more than fall in line.”
Saphier replaced Casey Means, M.D., as President Donald Trump’s pick for the role in April. She practices radiology full-time and is listed as the director of breast imaging at a Memorial Sloan Kettering facility in Middletown, New Jersey.
Cassidy opened her questioning with an inquiry on vaccinations, specifically asking Saphier would say if she was asked whether MMR vaccines cause autism.
“Humbly, I don't know what causes autism, but I have not seen reputable evidence that would suggest that vaccines cause autism,” Saphier said.
Cassidy said past nominees have used “wiggle room” to “do things which are quite contrary” to what was said in hearings, in reference to Baldwin’s opening remarks, before directly asking Saphier whether childhood vaccines cause autism.
“I do not believe childhood vaccines cause autism,” Saphier said.
Another question of note came from Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and was directed towards Saphier and Westlake.
“If directed by the president to take action that would break the law, would you follow the law or follow the president's directive?” Hassan said.
Hassan had asked Klomp the same question during a Tuesday hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance.
Saphier said she has “no intention of breaking the law.”
“My ultimate responsibility is to the American people, I follow the law,” Westlake said.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., expressed his “frustration about the responsiveness” of HHS to Klomp—noting that multiple letters have gone unaddressed by the department—and asked what he would do to improve responsiveness if confirmed.
“We get extraordinary volumes of requests, as you might imagine, and I'm not sure there is a number of people we could afford to throw at that problem and fully satisfy,” Klomp said. “But there are many opportunities for operational improvements here, and if confirmed, unequivocally, this is an area I will continue to work on.”
Turning back to measles, Cassidy asked Klomp his thoughts on the current outbreak, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) work to establish a definition of “death by measles.”
Klomp said he has “discussed this issue directly” with CDC Director Erica Schwartz, M.D., and sees “two deficiencies” that “create opportunity for improvement.”
“First, we cannot be having to discuss and debate the veracity of data and facts,” Klomp said. “We should demand that the debate center on policy in response to the facts, and so here we need a clear definition. … Number two, we must address these operational shortcomings: a clear definition, a commitment to publish transparently on the website, and then a proper policy discussion or a policy response in this case, promoting vaccination for measles, so that we achieve or maintain our elimination status.”
Baldwin closed out Wednesday’s hearing and said any additional questions for nominees are due by 5 p.m. Thursday. The HELP Committee would need to vote in the majority for Saphier's and Westlake's nominations to go forward to a full Senate vote, with Klomp's approval instead going through the Senate Finance Committee.