Senate Health Committee Signals Support for Trump’s CDC Nominee Amid Vaccine-Policy Tensions

On July 23, 2026, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee delayed its scheduled vote on two senior health-care nominations. In the same session, Committee Chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) announced his backing of Dr. Erica Schwartz, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Reuters

The CDC has experienced a year of leadership instability. In April 2025, President Trump nominated Schwartz, a former deputy surgeon general, after the agency’s previous director, Susan Monarez, was removed less than a month into her tenure for refusing to alter vaccine guidance at the direction of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic. Kennedy ordered the CDC’s autism-vaccine webpage to include a disclaimer stating that the claim “vaccines do not cause autism” is “not an evidence-based claim.” The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) later added a sentence noting that scientists have not identified the root causes of autism, framing the page as a work-in-progress.

HealthDay

• The CDC is confronting the worst U.S. measles resurgence in three decades, with a 35-year high in measles cases reported this year.

CNN

• The agency also faces an international Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, adding to its public-health workload.

Reuters

• He cited the HHS modification of the autism-vaccine webpage as “a sign of good faith” and said more work is needed to repair public-health response.

CNN

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the committee’s ranking member, announced he would vote against Schwartz.

Washington Examiner

“Will we have people in the Trump administration who have the guts to stand up to people who are anti-science and into conspiracy theories? And I am afraid that right now, within HHS, we have a secretary who will not tolerate this,” — Bernie Sanders, senator

Washington Examiner

• “Will we have people in the Trump administration who have the guts to stand up to people who are anti-science and into conspiracy theories? And I am afraid that right now, within HHS, we have a secretary who will not tolerate dissent,” — Bernie Sanders, senator

Washington Examiner

The HELP Committee is slated to reconvene next week to consider the CDC and Department of Labor nominations. If the committee advances Schwartz’s nomination, the full Senate will hold a confirmation vote thereafter. The fate of Sean Kaufman’s nomination remains uncertain pending further administration discussions.

CNN

• No definitive public statement has been made regarding whether Schwartz would resist potential pressure from Secretary Kennedy on vaccine policy, leaving that question unresolved.

HealthDay