Congress
Vote on health emergency preparedness nominee delayed
The Senate Health Committee dropped plans to vote on Sean Kaufman’s nomination to lead the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response on Thursday after a tense confirmation hearing last week that focused on vaccines.
“There are ongoing conversations with the administration on the path forward for Mr. Kaufman’s nomination,” a spokesperson for the committee said in a statement.
Kaufman has served as senior adviser for global affairs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since December. He also co-founded a biosafety consulting firm.
It was unclear Thursday morning why the administration pulled the nomination, but Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) had publicly expressed concerns about Kaufman during his confirmation hearing last week. Thursday’s decision to delay the planned vote suggested Kaufman would not have advanced.
During the hearing, Kaufman admitted to having authored a LinkedIn post saying he would “rather perish” than give his children the Covid-19 vaccine. In a different LinkedIn post, Kaufman had previously questioned the safety of the hepatitis B birth dose — of which Cassidy is a vocal proponent. He also addressed a video from four years ago, where he said he hates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which works closely with the agency he had hoped to lead.
Kaufman largely backtracked on those comments, telling members that “vaccines save lives,” but added some caveats, especially around Covid vaccines.
He told Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, that he believes mRNA vaccines, including the Covid shot, are safe and effective, but qualified that statement later by pointing to individuals who experienced adverse effects after getting the mRNA Covid shots, noting that some people suffered.
Simon J. Levien and Lauren Gardner contributed to this report.