Senate committee advances Dr. Nicole Saphier's nomination for surgeon
general
[October 01, 2026]
By FATIMA HUSSEIN
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Nicole Saphier, President Donald Trump 's third
nominee for surgeon general, moved a step closer to confirmation after a
Senate committee voted to advance her nomination on Wednesday.
Saphier, a radiologist and former Fox News Channel contributor, was
advanced out of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions on a 12 to 11 vote to serve as surgeon general after she was
grilled at her confirmation hearing earlier this month about her stance
on childhood vaccines.
She expressed support for vaccines and told lawmakers she didn’t believe
they cause autism. The Trump administration has sought to revisit claims
about a link between vaccines and autism, although widespread scientific
consensus and decades of studies have firmly concluded there is none.
Timothy Westlake, who was nominated to serve as assistant secretary for
mental health and substance use at the Department of Health and Human
Services was also advanced out of committee on the same en bloc vote.
It was not immediately clear when the officials would face a full Senate
vote for their confirmation but they are expected to be approved.
During her confirmation hearing, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy pressed
Saphier to declare whether she believed there was a link between
vaccines and autism. Saphier responded that she does “not believe
childhood vaccines cause autism,” adding that “the MMR vaccine is our
greatest tool for combating measles,” in response to a question by
Cassidy over whether parents should give children that shot.
MMR stands for measles, mumps and rubella, and the president recently
called for the shots to be spaced out, against the guidance of medical
groups.
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 The surgeon general position carries
limited policymaking power but serves as a loud megaphone as the
nation’s top communicator to Americans on public health issues.
Cassidy, who led the inquiry into Saphier's views
on vaccines, ultimately voted in support of her nomination.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, the ranking member of the
Senate HELP committee, said ahead of Saphier's vote that he would
vote down her nomination because in part Saphier “has questioned the
need for the hepatitis B vaccine at birth, when the data science has
been clear.”
“We need a surgeon general who will tell the truth about vaccines,
not someone who misleads the public,” Sanders said. At her
confirmation hearing, Saphier said the universal birth dose of
hepatitis B was safe and effective.
Chris Klomp, who was nominated to serve as deputy secretary of the
Department of Health and Human Services, was advanced out of the
Senate Finance Committee last week on a 15 to 12 vote. He was
questioned during the same hearing as Saphier about his duties
associated with the role as the current chief counselor of the
Department of Health and Human Services under the leadership of
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as well as about his vaccine
stance.
In protesting Klomp's nomination at the Senate Finance Committee,
Sen. Ron Wyden said Klomp “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.”
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