Senators grill CDC director nominee on vaccine stance in hearing

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director nominee said she accepts the scientific evidence vaccines don’t cause autism, in a confirmation hearing with US senators that focused largely on whether she’d push back on political pressure to promote anti-vaccine views.

Erica Schwartz, a physician and lawyer who previously served as deputy surgeon general, told members of members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions she will “never compromise on the science,” if confirmed.

However, senators struggled to pin Schwartz down on how strenuously she’d stand up to her potential boss, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The secretary, a longtime vaccine critic, fired the previous CDC director Susan Monarez over disagreements on immunization policy.

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana repeatedly asked Schwartz if she would be able to hire and fire staff without political interference. “You have my assurances that I will continue to lead by my integrity,” Schwartz said, declining to give a yes-or-no answer.

She also couldn’t say whether she’d remove a page on the CDC website promoting links between vaccines and autism, in response to a question from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the ranking member of the committee, saying she hadn’t seen it.

The heavy focus on vaccines show members of Congress are concerned about Kennedy’s influence on US public health. The secretary has repeatedly suggested vaccines are ineffective or unsafe, despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary. He’s made changes to the childhood immunization schedule, which have been challenged in court, has overseen declining vaccination rates across the US and measles outbreaks.

Schwartz is largely expected to be confirmed, but faces clear challenges as CDC director. Besides working with Kennedy, the public has become distrustful of public health agencies.

“If confirmed, my first priority will be restoring trust in public health institutions through radical transparency and unwavering scientific integrity,” Schwartz said.

The CDC has also undergone severe staff cuts and is monitoring several disease outbreaks, including the spread of Ebola in central Africa and a Cyclospora parasite that’s sickened thousands in the US.

Schwartz, President Donald Trump’s pick to head CDC, is a retired rear admiral in the Commissioned Corps of the US Public Health Service. She holds medical and law degrees and previously served as the deputy surgeon general under the first Trump administration. She is currently an executive at UnitedHealth Group Inc. overseeing its Medicare portfolio, according to her ethics disclosure.