Dr. Nicole Saphier, President Trump's third nominee for U.S. surgeon general in less than a year, went before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Wednesday for a confirmation hearing that quickly turned into a referendum on the administration's broader vaccine posture.

Saphier, a radiologist and former Fox News medical contributor who directs breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth, is the administration's latest attempt to fill a post that has gone unfilled through two failed nominations. Trump withdrew his first pick, Janette Nesheiwat, after questions about her academic credentials, and his second, wellness entrepreneur Casey Means, saw her nomination stall over her background and vaccine views.

Committee Chair Invokes Measles Deaths

Committee chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy opened the hearing by pointing to the nation's worst measles outbreak in more than three decades, telling the panel of health nominees, "That is going to be a terrible legacy for this administration," according to the Washington Post. Pressed on the shots, Saphier told the committee, "I can tell you that I do not believe the MMR vaccine to be lethal. I believe the MMR vaccine is our greatest tool for combatting measles," even though she has previously questioned whether newborns need the hepatitis B vaccine at birth — a position that echoes Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s push to loosen federal vaccine guidance.

Lawmakers also zeroed in on Saphier's ownership stake in DropRx, a company that sells unregulated liquid tinctures containing kava kava root — an ingredient the FDA has warned can cause severe liver injury. Her financial disclosure also lists holdings in Coca-Cola, Yum Brands, Hershey and Philip Morris alongside healthcare investments. Saphier's ethics filing states she will resign from DropRx and its parent company, Empower MD LLC, if the Senate confirms her.

"I CAN TELL YOU THAT I DO NOT BELIEVE THE MMR VACCINE TO BE LETHAL. I BELIEVE THE MMR VACCINE IS OUR GREATEST TOOL FOR COMBATTING MEASLES."

The hearing was not limited to Saphier. She appeared alongside two other embattled HHS nominees: Chris Klomp, tapped as a deputy to Kennedy, and Timothy Westlake, nominated for an assistant secretary post overseeing mental health and substance abuse policy. Watchdog group Protect Our Care blasted Saphier ahead of the hearing, casting her nomination as emblematic of an administration stocking its health leadership with vaccine skeptics, per the group's hearing preview.

The scrutiny comes as the CDC has confirmed the country is logging its highest measles case count in more than 30 years, a crisis Democrats and some Republicans have tied directly to the administration's shifting vaccine messaging under Kennedy.

No confirmation vote date has been set. The HELP Committee must first advance Saphier's nomination before it can reach the Senate floor, and her fate may hinge on whether Cassidy — a physician himself who has previously clashed with Kennedy over vaccine policy — presses for firmer commitments before signing off.