WASHINGTON — Senate health leader Bill Cassidy (R-La.) grilled a Trump nominee for a key pandemic preparedness role over past comments in which he questioned vaccines, in a heated Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
“Why would you repeat those damn lies? Because that destroys trust,” Cassidy said at one point to the nominee, Sean Kaufman, rapping his hand on the dais.
The senator was referring to a now-deleted LinkedIn post, first reported by STAT, in which Kaufman raised points commonly used by people who are skeptical of vaccines. Among other claims, Kaufman’s post made the case that the hepatitis B vaccine dose given at birth may be linked to an increase in autism cases, a widely-disproven claim.
The dramatic exchange comes after STAT reported last week that Kaufman, nominated to be Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, had made a number of public statements questioning the safety of vaccines, including messenger RNA vaccines and the hepatitis B vaccine given to infants at birth. Cassidy referenced the story in his opening remarks at the hearing.
He also pointed to a video from four years ago, when Kaufman was running for his local school board, in which he said he hates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If confirmed, Kaufman would work closely with the CDC in a public health crisis.
Kaufman defended his record and said he believes vaccines are safe and effective. He noted that his children had received the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. Kaufman also said that the CDC “is America’s treasure” and argued his criticisms were aimed at the agency’s leaders through the pandemic.
“I’m a Gen-X-er. My social media skills aren’t as good as everyone is today,” Kaufman said of the deleted LinkedIn post. He added the post was taken down for multiple reasons, including because he determined it was divisive. He said it was a mischaracterization to say he linked vaccines to autism.
“I have simply said public health owes it to the people to take a look at why there’s been such an increase in autism and allergies,” he said.
In his opening statement, Cassidy warned that he would not vote for any nominee who questioned the safety and value of vaccines, or even equivocated on the topic.
The Senate health leader, a physician who specializes in treating liver disease, has balked at much of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s aggressive vaccine agenda, despite backing Kennedy’s confirmation. The relationship between Cassidy and Kennedy has deteriorated after Cassidy criticized Kennedy’s vaccine policies.
In May, Cassidy lost his reelection bid after Kennedy and President Trump backed one of his primary challengers.
For the majority of the hearing, senators concentrated on questioning Erica Schwartz, the nominee for CDC director who appeared alongside Kaufman.
Kaufman also told Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) that he believes that mRNA vaccines are safe and effective.
“You’re going to have to do some strong work to clarify your views on this topic,” she told him.
But later, he waffled when pressed by a number of senators about whether he supported HHS’ decision to defund mRNA vaccine research aimed at speeding access to vaccines when a pandemic next arises — work that falls squarely under the ASPR umbrella. He said he thought it was more important to study the benefits and risks of Covid-19 mRNA vaccines before embarking on new vaccine targets using this technology.
In his closing questions, Cassidy grilled Kaufman about that idea.
“I’m again just flabbergasted that you would support stopping research on mRNA vaccines because there were some adverse events,” the senator said. “There are adverse events from the Aleve I took this morning for my bad knee. But that doesn’t mean we stop doing research on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and it doesn’t mean that I don’t continue to take them.”
Kaufman held his line. “I want research. I want a better mRNA platform. But I believe before we proceed we owe it to those who have issues — not just those who benefited and did OK — we owe it to everyone to explore how we can make the mRNA platform more viable,” he responded.
Cassidy grew visibly frustrated during this exchange, arguing the nominee was undermining trust in the CDC, the hepatitis B vaccine, and mRNA research.
“I don’t know what you were thinking,” Cassidy said, reading lines from the deleted social media post that suggested the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine was connected to the rise in autism diagnoses. He said the nominee’s comments were “either misinformed or deliberately misleading.”
Cassidy told reporters after the hearing that he needs to review the exchange with Kaufman again before commenting on whether he was convinced. Republicans on the Senate health committee have a one-vote majority, meaning just one Republican vote against Kaufman would sink his nomination.
“It seemed as if there was a defense of not doing research on mRNA platform, and then a wholehearted endorsement of it,” he said. “Let me just go back and review the transcript and make sure I understand that.”