Sean Kaufman faces scrutiny over past vaccine comments as he seeks a public health emergency role overseeing preparedness and response to disasters. The Trump administration nominated him to be Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, and Bill Cassidy will chair his confirmation hearing next week.
Sean Kaufman and vaccines
STAT reviewed past comments in which Kaufman questioned the use of the hepatitis B vaccine in infants and raised the disproven link between vaccines and autism. In a now-deleted May 2025 LinkedIn post, he wrote, "if they call him “an antivaxxer, then I’ll be forced to call you a pedophile"."
He also wrote in a May 2025 LinkedIn post, "And before you dismiss all this as ‘antivaxxer nonsense,’ consider this: autism." In the same post, Kaufman said the hepatitis B vaccine may be linked to an increase in autism cases, and he questioned giving hepatitis B shots to infants in a May 2025 video.
Bill Cassidy next week
Bill Cassidy is set to chair the hearing next week after opposing some vaccine policy changes heralded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He also spoke out against delaying the hepatitis B shot, placing Kaufman’s past comments in front of a Senate health leader who has already drawn lines around vaccine policy.
Kaufman co-founded a biosafety consulting firm. If the Senate advances his nomination, he would oversee the nation's countermeasures in a public health crisis, including vaccines and personal protective equipment.
Decades of research
Decades of research has not found a connection between vaccines and the prevalence of autism, but Kaufman has publicly suggested such a link. That leaves the hearing focused on whether he will defend those comments, soften them, or try to separate them from the job he is seeking at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Next week’s hearing will put that record in front of senators before they decide whether he should lead a post that shapes federal response during a public health emergency.
