Dr. Nicole Saphier cleared a key Senate committee for surgeon general on a narrow party-line vote, even as Democrats claimed she would mislead the public on vaccines.
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions advanced President Donald Trump’s third nominee for surgeon general on Wednesday by a 12 to 11 margin, Newsmax reported.
Radiologist and former Fox News Channel contributor Nicole Saphier now moves a step closer to full Senate confirmation. Timothy Westlake, nominated to serve as assistant secretary for mental health and substance use at the Department of Health and Human Services, advanced on the same en bloc vote.
Democrats framed the fight around childhood vaccines. Ranking member Sen. Bernie Sanders said ahead of the vote that he would oppose her. Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy pressed her hard at a confirmation hearing earlier this month, then backed the nomination.
The full Senate vote timing is not immediately clear. The nominee is expected to win approval.
At her confirmation hearing earlier this month, lawmakers grilled Saphier on childhood vaccines. She expressed support for them and answered Cassidy’s direct question on the autism claim.
She told lawmakers she does “not believe childhood vaccines cause autism.”
"not believe childhood vaccines cause autism"
She also said “the MMR vaccine is our greatest tool for combating measles.” On the hepatitis B shot given at birth, she told the panel the universal dose was safe and effective.
Sanders still cast her as a risk. He argued she has questioned the need for the hepatitis B vaccine at birth “when the data science has been clear.”
Sanders put his objection in blunt terms before the committee vote.
“We need a surgeon general who will tell the truth about vaccines, not someone who misleads the public,”
Cassidy led the inquiry into her vaccine views and ultimately voted to advance her. That pattern of Republican scrutiny followed by support has marked other Trump health and labor picks on the Hill, including fights where Sen. Cassidy blocked four Trump labor nominees until he got answers he wanted.
Chris Klomp, nominated to serve as deputy secretary of Health and Human Services, advanced out of the Senate Finance Committee last week on a 15 to 12 vote. He is currently chief counselor at HHS under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Klomp faced questions in the same hearing cycle as Saphier about his duties and vaccine stance. Sen. Ron Wyden protested the nomination and tied it to broader Democratic complaints about the department.
Wyden said Klomp “tried to create the impression that he will be the adult in the room on vaccines.” Then he added his real charge.
“tried to create the impression that he will be the adult in the room on vaccines. Yet, as we sit here today, the vaccine chaos that we’ve come to expect from Robert Kennedy’s HHS continues.”
Democratic messaging treated Saphier’s clear hearing answers as insufficient and treated Klomp’s rise as proof of disorder. The votes still went through on near party lines.
Similar narrow paths have defined other Trump-era health confirmations, including when the Senate confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz as CDC director after a long stretch without permanent leadership.
Saphier is Trump’s third choice for surgeon general. The administration has sought to revisit claims about a link between vaccines and autism. The president recently called for MMR shots to be spaced out, against the guidance of medical groups.
Saphier’s hearing record still put her on record rejecting the autism claim and calling the MMR vaccine the strongest tool against measles. She also defended the hepatitis B birth dose as safe and effective. Democrats voted no anyway.
Committee advancement does not finish the job. The nominees still need a floor vote. Timing remains unsettled, though approval is expected.
Other Trump nominees have hit turbulence or delays in the same Senate climate, from intelligence posts to immigration enforcement. One recent case saw the White House pull an ICE director nominee after a Republican blockade. Procedural grind is familiar on both parties’ watches.
Westlake’s advancement alongside Saphier keeps the mental health and substance use post moving in tandem. Klomp’s Finance vote last week keeps the deputy secretary slot on a parallel track under Kennedy’s HHS.
Senate process fights over high-level national security and health picks have become routine this term, including when the Senate advanced Jay Clayton toward confirmation as intelligence chief while other tools stayed unresolved.
Sanders said the country needs a surgeon general who tells the truth on vaccines. Saphier’s own words to the committee rejected an autism link, backed MMR against measles, and called the hepatitis B birth dose safe and effective.
Wyden warned of “vaccine chaos” at Kennedy’s HHS while opposing the deputy secretary pick who already serves there as chief counselor. The Finance Committee still advanced Klomp 15-12.
Cassidy demanded a direct answer on autism and vaccines, got one, and voted yes. The HELP Committee then advanced Saphier 12-11 and carried Westlake on the same en bloc vote.
Those are the recorded positions. The floor fight will test whether Democrats keep treating affirmed vaccine support as disqualifying when the nominee carries a Trump label and works near Kennedy’s department.
Americans asked for accountability on public health messaging after years of shifting guidance and political spin. A surgeon general who answers the autism question in open session, defends MMR, and clears a skeptical Republican chairman should not be painted as a threat to truth because the other party wants a different messenger.