COVID vaccine opponents, hard-right Republicans want to topple Missouri health leader
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has gone out of his way over the past two years to please conservatives with his pandemic response.
The Republican governor refused to issue a statewide mask mandate. He’s condemned federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates and made clear vaccination will always be a personal choice.
But for at least a part of Missouri’s GOP base, Parson is now a potential enemy. The issue is his choice of a state health director, whose statements supporting vaccination have ignited opposition.
At a 90-minute confirmation hearing Monday, Donald Kauerauf, a former Illinois state health official, felt the full force of an anti-vaccination movement that is surging after years on the political fringe.
More than 100 people rallied prior to the meeting of the Senate Gubernatorial Appointments Committee. The event, promoted in part by Jackson County Republican Chairman David Lightner, is a sign that opposition to Kauerauf has taken hold in at least some parts of the GOP grassroots.
“PARSONS HAS GONE COMMIE,” one sign read.
Kauerauf has been on the job since September in an acting capacity. While it is unclear whether his confirmation for the permanent directorship of the Department of Health and Senior Services is in jeopardy, anti-vaccine sentiments have elevated what would normally be a routine matter to a heated issue.
And time is running out. The Senate must confirm Kauerauf by Friday or his nomination is terminated according to the Missouri Constitution.
Encouraged by some GOP senators, those opposed to his confirmation fear his leadership heralds a future of compulsory shots. His opponents are also wary of his Illinois background, depicting the state as a hotbed of crime and corruption.
“We’ve been inundated” with COVID-related mandates, said Sen. Mike Moon, an Ash Grove Republican, to Kauerauf on Monday. “People are now extremely attuned and attentive … you’re going to be part of it if you’re confirmed.”
Moon focused on Kauerauf saying that Missouri should “do better” on its vaccination rates and asked if the director had “backed off” a previous desire to see all Missourians vaccinated against COVID.
Kauerauf said he’d like 75% of Missourians to be vaccinated – a rate in the range health officials say could create herd immunity. Currently 55% of Missouri residents have been fully vaccinated.
He said his role was to provide the vaccine-hesitant more information to make the decision.
“In public health our goal is always eradication,” Kauerauf said. “I still want everybody who is able and willing to get vaccinated.”
Kauerauf went to great lengths to reassure Republican senators, saying he opposed state-level vaccine and mask mandates and considered himself pro-life.
He also declined to criticize the anti-parasite medicine ivermectin as a COVID-19 therapy, instead saying its use should be a decision made by doctors and patients. The comment appeared to walk back the health department’s public statements last summer urging Missourians not to ingest the drug, which is not approved for treatment against COVID.
Will Kauerauf get a vote?
Parson released a statement defending Kauerauf against what he called “misinformation” surrounding his nomination. He criticized unnamed Missouri officials for “grandstanding for purely political reasons and fueling fears without any regard for the truth.”
“Don has helped lead our state through this final chapter of the COVID-19 pandemic and has respected Missourians’ constitutional rights every step of the way,” Parson said. “During these past 22 months, my administration has never wavered in our opposition to COVID-19 mandates and will always stand for Missourians’ rights and freedoms, and Don is no exception.”
Senate Republican leaders have acknowledged hearing complaints about Kauerauf but haven’t voiced concerns themselves. A few senators in the Conservative Caucus — a band of right-wing senators who clash frequently with leadership — are embracing the anti-vaccine activists’ opposition.
Regardless of whether Kauerauf is ultimately confirmed, the opposition underscores how the anti-vaccine contingent must now be reckoned with by Republicans. Even a GOP governor who trounced his Democratic opponent by 16 points in 2020 – and drew the ire of health professionals for his pandemic approach – can become a target.
The committee took no vote on Kauerauf on Monday. Governors’ appointments must be approved by the Senate within 30 days of the beginning of the legislative session.
The committee has more meetings scheduled this week, but Senate President Dave Schatz did not commit to bringing Kauerauf up for a vote.
“I will take into consideration the members, their concerns, find out what’s out there and then we’ll make a determination how to move forward,” Schatz, a Sullivan Republican, said.
Jennifer Barker, with Informed Health Choice Missouri, a group opposing employer vaccine mandates, said she was most troubled that Kauerauf had asked Attorney General Eric Schmitt to appeal a Cole County judge’s decision declaring parts of the state’s public health laws unconstitutional.
The ruling has caused widespread confusion among local health departments and led some jurisdictions to abandon measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Schmitt rejected Kauerauf’s appeal request.
Barker, who addressed the rally, also raised questions a about Kauerauf’s wife, Judy, an Illinois health official. The state supported an University of Illinois-developed testing and COVID case monitoring system that could be adopted by schools and private businesses. Barker called the prospect of widespread testing in schools and grocery stores “a big problem.”
“So I question, ‘Governor Parson, why did you appoint this gentleman?’” Barker said to applause.
The activists, bolstered by speeches from Sens. Moon, Denny Hoskins, and Rick Brattin of the Conservative Caucus, discussed other reasons that hardline conservatives needed to control the position of state health director.
Kauerauf hasn’t opposed abortion vocally enough, said Bev Ehlen of Concerned Women for America. And the health department determines the diseases for school vaccine requirements, another recent target of conservatives.
During the confirmation hearing, Moon repeatedly asked Kauerauf a number of questions echoing the concerns of opponents. Moon, who is running for Congress, pressed Kauerauf on vaccine side effects, ivermectin and Judy Kauerauf’s role in Illinois.
“Senator, my wife’s not sitting here,” Kauerauf said during a tense exchange with Moon.
