Senate committee delays vote on CDC director nominee
· UPIJuly 23 (UPI) -- A Senate committee delayed a vote on the Trump administration's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director nominee, Erica Schwartz, because enough members were not present.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, was absent from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions meeting on Thursday because of a family emergency, which led committee chair Bill Cassidy, R-La., to postpone the vote, Politico reported.
Cassidy also said Thursday that he decided to vote for Schwartz because of a "good faith action" the CDC reportedly made to its website earlier in the day.
The action included changing language on its website about the lack of an association between vaccines and autism, which had been ordered changed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last year.
Cassidy asked detailed questions during her nomination hearing about vaccines and how the agency, which has had a full-time director for just one month since President Donald Trump re-entered the White House, would restore confidence in its public health mission, The Hill reported.
"I'm confident that she knows what she's doing and will stand against those who do not," Cassidy said during the meeting.
"If confirmed, I look forward to working with Dr. Schwartz to protect children's health and regain trust in the CDC," he said.
"There's more to do to repair the damage that has been done to the U.S. public health response, but this is a start," the Louisiana Republican added.
Even with Cassidy deciding to vote for Schwartz, Republicans on the committee would have needed a Democrat or Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who caucuses with the Democrats, to vote in favor.
Sanders ended that possibility when he expressed respect for Schwartz's career but said that he was concerned she would not be able to hold off some of the controversial changes Kennedy has either proposed or forced on the agency.
"I will be voting against Dr. Schwartz because we need people in this country who are going to stand up, protect the American people and I don't think you can see that right now with Secretary Kennedy in his position," Sanders said.
The HELP committee's next executive session is scheduled for July 30, which is also the next time it will consider nominations, making it the next opportunity for Schwartz's nomination to come up for a vote.
The committee also put off a vote on Sean Kaufman, who is nominated to lead the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, because Republicans did not have enough votes to forward the nomination to the full Senate.
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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on President Donald Trump's June 24 supplemental funding request at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo