Cassidy challenges Trump vaccine policy amid measles deaths

Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Republican chairman of the Senate health committee, blamed the Trump administration’s vaccine-skeptical approach Wednesday for recent measles deaths and pressed President Donald Trump’s nominee for surgeon general to say plainly that vaccines do not cause autism.

Cassidy, a Louisiana physician, said three people had died of measles in Pennsylvania and a fourth death was under review as the United States faces its worst measles outbreak in more than three decades. He said the deaths were tied to misinformation and misguided policies around vaccination.

“To suffer from any disease is awful, but to suffer one which is avoidable, that’s even worse,” Cassidy said. He added that the country needs public health leaders “who make decisions based on science, not politics or ideology.”

The senator called the outbreak “a terrible legacy for this administration.”

The committee is considering three Trump nominees: Chris Klomp for deputy secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Nicole Saphier for surgeon general and Dr. Timothy Westlake to lead the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The nominees require Senate confirmation.

Saphier, a radiologist and Fox News contributor, did not focus on vaccines in her opening remarks. Instead, she described her support for the Make America Healthy Again agenda and emphasized prevention of chronic disease.

“I have long believed that we spend too much time and resources treating chronic disease after it takes hold, and not enough time helping Americans reduce their risk before illness begins,” Saphier said. She pointed to “rising cancer rates in people under 50” and cardiovascular disease, which she said remains the leading killer while being preventable in many cases.

Cassidy pushed Saphier on whether she would tell parents worried about the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine that it does not cause autism. He said he was wary of answers that left “wriggle room,” referring to assurances he said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made during his confirmation process.

“Would you feel comfortable communicating with clarity … Is the MMR vaccine extremely lethal, as the president said?” Cassidy asked.

Saphier said she “cannot speak to what the president has said,” then added: “I do not believe the MMR vaccine to be lethal. I believe the MMR vaccine is our greatest tool for combating measles.”

She also said vaccination against MMR is “the best tool we have to combat these infections to save the most lives and to also create population herd immunity.” According to Al Jazeera, Saphier initially said she had “not seen reputable evidence” that vaccines cause autism, and, after Cassidy called that answer a “bit of an equivocation,” said she did not believe childhood vaccines cause autism.

Cassidy was not satisfied with the administration’s broader message. “I’m not sure that you reach people who are vaccine hesitant by feeding into untruths,” he said.

Last month, Cassidy criticized Trump’s “crazy, stupid” claims about the safety of the combined MMR vaccine, saying they undermined public confidence in immunization. He had voted to confirm Kennedy as health secretary despite disagreements over vaccine skepticism.

Cassidy said Kennedy had promised him the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “will not remove statements on their website pointing out that vaccines do not cause autism.” After Kennedy took office, the CDC’s “Autism and Vaccines” page was changed: an asterisk was added to the headline “Vaccines do not cause Autism,” leading to a footnote saying “the root causes of autism” remain unknown.

Al Jazeera reported that the United States has not had a surgeon general since January 2025 because Trump’s two previous picks faced opposition and Senate questions about their qualifications.