When Sen. Bill Cassidy on Thursday expressed his support for Erica Schwartz, President Trump’s pick for CDC director, he signaled that he may once again cast a critical vote for a candidate that poses a risk to US public health.

At her confirmation hearing earlier this month, Schwartz, who has a medical degree, sidestepped questions on whether she would resist pressure from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to carry out policies that she believed contradicted scientific evidence.

After this, Cassidy, a physician and chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, withheld his support of Schwartz. But on Thursday, he pivoted, telling committee members: “I’m confident that she knows what she is doing and will stand against those who do not.” The Louisiana senator said he now trusts Schwartz after they spoke........

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