Republican senator blames Trump vaccine policy for measles deaths as surgeon general pick backs MMR jab

From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.

A Republican senator has accused the Trump administration's vaccine policies of contributing to measles deaths in Pennsylvania, as confirmation hearings for the president's surgeon general nominee opened. Dr Nicole Saphier faced sharp questions from members of her own party about her position on childhood immunisation. She endorsed the MMR vaccine and dismissed any suggestion that childhood vaccines are linked to autism. The bipartisan pressure highlights how deeply the anti-vaccine movement, which gained ground during Trump's second term, is now dividing Republicans.

The measles accusation came from a Republican senator, placing rare pressure on Trump from within his own party on health policy.

Saphier's MMR endorsement draws a direct line between her and the mainstream scientific consensus that RFK Jr's tenure as Health Secretary sought to blur.

The hearing exposed a fault line inside the Republican coalition between traditional pro-vaccine public health voices and the Make America Healthy Again wing.