Washington D.C. – Citing a lack of “sufficient support”, today Senate HELP Committee chairman Bill Cassidy indefinitely delayed a committee vote on Sean Kaufman’s nomination for Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response for the Trump HHS in the wake of Kaufman’s troubling anti-vax views coming to light. Kaufman, who Donald Trump wants to oversee the nation’s emergency supply of vaccines, previously declared he “hates” the CDC and tried to bury his past writings smearing the safety of vaccines, including the Hepatitis B shot that saves thousands of kids’ lives every year.
“The Trump health department is already teeming with anti-vaxxers. Empowering another science denier to mess with the nation’s emergency vaccine supply is just too damn dangerous,” said Brad Woodhouse, president of Protect Our Care. “Apparently not all committee Republicans are buying Mr. Kaufman’s convenient change of heart on vaccine safety for the cameras, and they shouldn’t. They’ve been burned before. During his own confirmation hearing, RFK Jr claimed “I support vaccines. I support the childhood schedule,” then as Health Secretary immediately muzzled CDC promotion of vaccines and made gutting the child vaccine schedule the centerpiece of the administration’s ongoing anti-vax agenda. The credibility of RFK Jr’s HHS is in short supply, and Mr. Kaufman has none to offer after spreading dangerous misinformation about a life-saving vaccine. He should withdraw his name from consideration.”
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