Missouri health director won’t be confirmed after pressure from anti-vaccine opponents

Missouri will be without a state health director at the end of the week after hardline conservatives in the Senate blocked confirmation of Republican Gov. Mike Parson’s pick for the job over a perception that he was pressing too hard for vaccination.

Senators adjourned Tuesday without taking a vote in committee on Donald Kauerauf, the former Illinois public health official who’s been on the job in an acting capacity since September. With an impending snowstorm canceling legislative days for the rest of the week, Friday’s constitutional deadline to confim Kauerauf will pass without senators returning to take action on his nomination.

Parson could have withdrawn Kauerauf’s nomination and resubmitted it next week to restart the clock on his confirmation, but the health director’s name was not included on a list of other withdrawals the governor sent to the upper chamber on Tuesday afternoon. Under the Missouri constitution, appointments that Senators don’t confirm within the deadline are “terminated.” Kauerauf can’t be appointed to the same office again.

“Obviously we knew there was some opposition, but there ended up being a little more than I think we have anticipated,” said Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden on Tuesday after the adjournment. “At some point, we just realized it was functionally going to be impossible to make it happen.”

Parson’s spokeswoman Kelli Jones did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The Department of Health and Senior Services could not immediately be reached for comment.

Kauerauf, picked by Parson last July, came to Missouri with 30 years of experience in Illinois state government, mostly in public health and emergency management. His leadership was intended to coincide with a planned overhaul of the health department and he told reporters last summer he wanted to improve primary care access and lift Missouri’s bottom-of-the-nation health outcomes.

“Missouri is in the middle of a health crisis and now the state is without a health director because a small but loud group of extremist Republicans are against fighting a disease that has killed 17,000 of our fellow Missourians,” Minority Leader John Rizzo, an Independence Democrat, said Tuesday. “Misinformation and lies have defeated professionalism and integrity.”

The governor’s inaction came a day after more than 100 protesters opposed to Kauerauf rallied in the state capitol and flooded the hall outside his confirmation hearing, claiming his leadership of the health department would lead to mandatory vaccination.

Parson and Kauerauf have both stressed that both vaccination and mask-wearing are a personal choice.

Parson on Monday issued a statement criticizing the “misinformation” and accusing “certain Missouri officials” of “grandstanding for purely political reasons and fueling fears without any regard for the truth.”

But the Senate gubernatorial appointments committee did not advance Kauerauf’s confirmation to the floor after a lengthy and tense hearing. Most of the complaints were raised by just one hardline conservative senator — Mike Moon of Ash Grove, who is running for Congress.

Most of the vitriol from the anti-vaccine ralliers was focused on comments Kauerauf previously made stating that Missouri needs to “do better” on its COVID vaccination rate — which currently sits at 55% of the population — and that he’d like to see all Missourians vaccinated. Moon also suggested Kauerauf was insufficiently opposed to abortion, though the nominee said he’s pro-life, and pressed him on ivermectin, the anti-parasite medication that is not an approved treatment for COVID.

Rowden, a Columbia Republican, said concerns from Republican senators went beyond Moon and that he personally was on the fence about the confirmation.

“I do think there were some people who had some legitimate concerns,” he said. “I take him at his word that he didn’t want mandates ... These are not fun moments for us. Obviously this is a guy with a family and has a pretty distinguished career in public service.”

Parson announced Kauerauf’s appointment last July as the state was experiencing a surge of the Delta variant. He came to Missouri with more than 30 years of experience in state government in Illinois, mostly in public health and emergency management.

While he emphasized masks and vaccine are a choice, Kauerauf also told lawmakers and Parson’s office that masks work to reduce spread of the virus, as studies have found. And he said the health department should give vaccine-hesitant communities more information to help them make the decision.

During his confirmation hearing on Monday, Rizzo asked Kauerauf why he still wanted the job despite the controversy.

“It’s frustrating what we’re hearing, reading, but I’ll tell you what, Senator, that’s not the majority of people,” Kauerauf said. “People I talk to want to increase their health. People are very interested in having longer lives ... I love public health. I think we have an opportunity here in Missouri.”

This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 4:24 PM.