The new changes appear to have been made to secure a crucial confirmation vote for Dr. Erica Schwartz, Trump’s [nominee to lead the CDC].
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, whose support is vital for moving health nominees through the Senate Health Committee, previously signaled that he needed assurances that the agency would uphold scientific integrity before advancing her nomination.
I don’t get it. They went from saying there is no causal relationship between vaccines and autism to saying that science doesn’t know. How does that help secure Cassidy’s vote?
politicians really like to get these kind of hard concessions to move forward, like ‘I’m not going to let you nominate a eugenicist nazi unless you make it clear that you don’t think science EXPLICITLY may or may not agree with your narrative you’ve been pushing and profiting from for decades’
See, I thought that as well. The new statement is slightly ambiguous, but it’s still a reversal in policy. I don’t see how it’s better or that it is preserving anybody’s integrity in allowing this nominee to pass.
I don’t get it. They went from saying there is no causal relationship between vaccines and autism to saying that science doesn’t know. How does that help secure Cassidy’s vote?
politicians really like to get these kind of hard concessions to move forward, like ‘I’m not going to let you nominate a eugenicist nazi unless you make it clear that you don’t think science EXPLICITLY may or may not agree with your narrative you’ve been pushing and profiting from for decades’
He showed them who’s boss!
See, I thought that as well. The new statement is slightly ambiguous, but it’s still a reversal in policy. I don’t see how it’s better or that it is preserving anybody’s integrity in allowing this nominee to pass.