Trump's Third Surgeon General Pick Tells Senate She Sees No Vaccine-Autism Link

Dr. Nicole Saphier, President Donald Trump's third nominee for surgeon general, told a Senate panel on Wednesday that she has not seen credible evidence linking childhood vaccines to autism, as lawmakers pressed her on the administration's repeated suggestions of such a connection.

Appearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Saphier opened her confirmation hearing with a focus on disease prevention, saying the country spends too much on treating chronic illness after it develops and too little on helping people reduce risk beforehand. She cited rising cancer rates among people under 50, cardiovascular disease, infertility and mental health struggles among young people as consequences of that imbalance.

"We should treat illness when it occurs, but we also need to do a far better job of helping people stay healthy in the first place," she said.

Questioning quickly shifted to vaccines. Committee chairman Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and physician, said misinformation and misguided policies were leaving children and adults unprotected against preventable diseases, calling vaccines overwhelmingly safe and effective and stating that they do not cause autism.

Asked directly whether the MMR vaccine causes autism, Saphier replied that she does not know what causes autism but has not seen repeatable evidence suggesting vaccines do. Pressed further, she said she does not believe childhood vaccines cause autism and that she has not seen reputable evidence of causation.

Cassidy suggested her phrasing left "a little bit of a wiggle room" and amounted to equivocation, arguing that telling parents only that no evidence has been seen could imply evidence might exist.

On the MMR vaccine specifically, Saphier said she does not believe it to be lethal and described it as the greatest tool for combating measles. She said vaccination is the best way to fight infections, save lives and build herd immunity, while acknowledging that the president is trying to reach vaccine-hesitant people seeking answers.

Cassidy warned that the administration's approach would leave a "terrible legacy," noting that the CDC is reportedly working on a definition of death by measles after decades in which no such work was needed.

Saphier is a radiologist and former Fox News contributor. She is director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth, holds a medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine in Barbados and completed fellowships at the Mayo Clinic. She is Trump's newest pick for the post, which has remained vacant through his second term, after entrepreneur and wellness influencer Dr. Casey Means saw her path stall in the Senate over her background and vaccine views.