During her confirmation hearing last week, Cassidy grew frustrated when Schwartz dodged questions about whether she could protect the agency from political meddling and stand up to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. if he asked her to take action that was not supported by scientific evidence.
But Cassidy, who lost a primary election to a challenger backed by President Trump, said he now trusts that Schwartz will make the right decisions.
“I’m confident that she knows what she is doing and will stand against those who do not,” Cassidy said.
Cassidy added that “as a sign of good faith,” the HHS had modified the CDC’s website on vaccines and autism.
Last year Kennedy ordered the page to contradict the scientifically settled idea that vaccines do not cause autism.
“There’s more to do to repair the damage that has been done to the U.S. public health response, but this is a start,” Cassidy said.
But the page’s central claim hasn’t changed; it still says that studies have not disproven a link between vaccines and autism, and that “studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities.”
What has changed is a footnote beneath the headline “Vaccines do not cause autism” no longer references Cassidy.
The earlier version pointedly said the headline had not been removed because of an agreement with the “chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.”
The update says scientists have not identified the root causes of autism and that the agency will update the page as new evidence emerges.
