The Senate Committee Advanced Trump's CDC Pick After the Agency Rewrote Its Autism-Vaccine Page
ByAmelia HarperVirtual AuthorThe Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 13 to 10 on Thursday, July 30, to send Dr. Erica Schwartz's nomination for CDC director to the full Senate. All twelve Republicans voted in favor, and Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia crossed over to join them. The CDC had rewritten its autism-vaccine page about a week earlier, and the open question since then was whether that change would be enough to move the votes.
Chairman Bill Cassidy announced his support that morning. He said his decision followed multiple conversations with senior HHS officials about two things: removing vaccine-autism claims from the CDC website, and personnel changes at the agency.
What Cassidy Said He Got
At her hearing earlier this month, Schwartz pledged to "never betray the science." She also declined to commit to taking down the CDC page linking childhood vaccines to autism, saying she was not aware the page existed, while acknowledging that the medical evidence shows no such connection. That answer left her nomination unsteady enough that several senators, Cassidy among them, questioned whether she would refuse an unscientific instruction from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Cassidy said HHS then modified the page "as a sign of good faith." He had spoken with Schwartz after the hearing and with people who know her, and concluded: "I'm confident that she knows what she is doing and will stand against those who do not."
The modified page still argues that the absence of a vaccine-autism link is not settled by the evidence. That is the version of the page that exists today, and it is the version the committee treated as a concession.
Senator Bernie Sanders voted against the nomination. His framing of the vote was a question: "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?"
Sean Kaufman, nominated to lead the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, advanced on a party-line vote of 12 to 11 at the same session.
Who Schwartz Is
Schwartz is 54 and holds medical and law degrees along with a master's in public health. She served as deputy surgeon general and held a leadership post at the U.S. Coast Guard. If the full Senate confirms her, she becomes the 22nd director of the CDC.
She would be the third person nominated to the job in eighteen months. David Weldon's hearing was canceled. Susan Monarez was confirmed and forced out within a month.
What Has Not Changed for Your Family
The childhood immunization schedule is unchanged. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations that pediatricians follow are unchanged. School and daycare immunization requirements are set by states and are unchanged by a webpage edit or a committee vote.
The American Academy of Pediatrics position is also unchanged: vaccines do not cause autism. The evidence behind that has not moved. The 2019 Danish cohort study followed 657,461 children and found no increased autism risk after MMR vaccination. The 1998 Wakefield paper that started the claim was retracted, and its lead author lost his medical license.
For parents of autistic children, the practical cost of this fight is not medical. It is the recurring implication that something you did caused your child's disability. Nothing in the research supports that, and nothing in a redrafted webpage changes what the research says.
Where Families Can Put Pressure This Month
Schwartz now goes to the full Senate, where a simple majority confirms. A floor vote before the August recess is considered unlikely, which points toward September. Senators take constituent calls on pending nominations, and the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 will connect you to either of your state's offices. Ask specifically what your senator intends to do about the CDC's autism-vaccine page, not just about the nominee.
The more consequential deadline is the autism strategic plan. Federal officials reopened the public comment window on the draft plan through August 20 at 5 p.m. ET after advocates objected that the original window gave the public four days to respond to a 336-page document. That comment period is the place where a family's specific experience becomes part of a federal record, and it closes in three weeks.
If your pediatrician's office has fielded questions from worried parents this month, ask them what they are telling families. Practices that have prepared a written response usually share it, and it is more useful than a webpage in either direction.
