Senate panel approves CDC nominee, controversial HHS pick

The Senate health committee approved the nomination of Erica Schwartz for Centers for Disease Control director Thursday, a step toward refilling the depleted ranks of the Trump administration's health care leadership.

• The committee also approved the nomination of Sean Kaufman, who's in line for assistant secretary for preparedness and response and had been in trouble because of past anti-vaccine statements.

Why it matters: The votes showed Republicans, at least, are still willing to accept the administration's assurances about the nominees even though committee chair Bill Cassidy has made it clear he's uneasy with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s policies.

• The narrow committee endorsements put both nominees in line for votes to be confirmed by the full Senate, which have yet to be scheduled.

By the numbers: Schwartz was approved 12-10, while Kaufman was approved 12-11.

Driving the news: Cassidy said he got a few concessions from HHS to justify his support for Kaufman, including promises of "key personnel changes and better oversight to ensure that science and not ideology is driving decision making."

• "Mr. Kaufman has said some pretty stupid things and irresponsible things regarding immunization. He has owned up to that in his conversations with me," Cassidy said.
• "I am assured that if he is confirmed, he will not be involved in vaccine policy."
• Cassidy warned that "there will be future leverage points for this committee over future appointees if these commitments are not kept."

Between the lines: Neither nomination was a slam dunk. The votes were supposed to happen last week, but they had to be postponed because Republicans couldn't get enough senators to show up for the vote — and because they had more questions about Kaufman.

Context: Schwartz faced tough questioning during her July 15 confirmation hearing over whether she could steer clear of political interference and chart a course for the beleaguered public health agency.

• While she vowed to "never betray the science" and rebuild trust in the CDC, Schwartz hedged on whether she would tell Congress if she was told to adopt "unscientific" or harmful policies, saying she didn't believe either President Trump or Kennedy would do that.
• Schwartz was Trump's third nominee to lead the CDC, following Susan Monarez, who was fired after less than a month in the role claiming she was dismissed for refusing to rubber-stamp Kennedy's vaccine policies.
• The former deputy surgeon general was viewed as a less polarizing pick than some of Trump's past health nominees. Public health experts have said she'd face challenges stabilizing an agency that's lacked a full-time political leader for almost a year and is beset by morale and staffing problems.