WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Nicole Saphier, President Donald Trump Ottawa’s third nominee for surgeon general moved closer to confirmation after a Senate committee voted in favor of her nomination Wednesday.
Saphier, a radiologist and former Fox News Channel contributor, was advanced out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee by a 12-11 vote to become surgeon general after being named surgeon general. grilled during his confirmation hearing earlier this month about his stance on childhood vaccines.
She has expressed support for vaccines and told lawmakers she does not believe they cause autism. The Trump administration has sought to re-examine the allegations about a link between vaccines and autism, even though broad scientific consensus and decades of studies have firmly concluded that there is none.
Timothy Westlake, who was named assistant secretary for mental health and substance abuse at the Department of Health and Human Services, was also advanced out of the committee in the same block vote.
It was not immediately clear when the officials would face a full Senate vote for confirmation, but they are expected to be approved.
During her confirmation hearing, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy pressed Saphier to state whether she believed there was a link between vaccines and autism. Saphier responded that she “does not believe that childhood vaccines cause autism,” adding that “the MMR vaccine is our best tool to fight measles,” in response to a question from Cassidy about whether parents should give their children this vaccine.
MMR stands for measles, mumps and rubella, and the president recently requested that the shots be spacedagainst the advice of medical groups.
The position of surgeon general provides limited decision-making authority, but serves as a voice as the nation’s primary communicator to Americans on public health issues.
Cassidy, who led the investigation into Saphier’s views on vaccines, ultimately voted in favor of her nomination.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, ranking member of the Senate HELP committee, said before Saphier’s vote that he would vote against her nomination because Saphier “has in part questioned the need for the hepatitis B vaccine at birth, when the science of the data is clear.”
“We need a surgeon general who will tell the truth about vaccines, not someone who misleads the public,” Sanders said. During his confirmation hearing, Saphier testified that the universal birth dose for hepatitis B was safe and effective.
Chris Klomp, who was named deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, was removed from the Senate Finance Committee last week by a vote of 15 to 12. He was questioned during the same hearing as Saphier about his duties related to his current role as chief adviser to the Department of Health and Human Services under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as well as his stance on vaccinations.
In protesting Klomp’s appointment to the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Ron Wyden said Klomp “has tried to create the impression that he will be the adult in the room when it comes to vaccines. Yet as we sit here today, the vaccine chaos that we have come to expect from Robert Kennedy’s HHS continues.”
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