White House pulling Dave Weldon’s nomination to run CDC

The White House is withdrawing former Florida Rep. Dave Weldon’s nomination to be the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a White House official confirmed Thursday.

An administration official who was asked about why Weldon’s nomination was withdrawn responded, “It was clear he did not have the votes in the Senate.” 

Weldon, a vaccine critic, was set to appear before the Senate’s health committee on Thursday for his confirmation hearing, and news of the withdrawal of his nomination came less than an hour before the hearing was to begin. The committee was expected to question him about his long record of criticizing vaccines and the agency he was nominated to lead. Weldon is a physician and a former Republican member of Congress. 

The CDC has faced mounting questions from senators in recent weeks over moves to reopen studies into whether vaccines are linked to autism and also over an abruptly canceled meeting of the agency’s outside immunization advisers, which has yet to be rescheduled.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
 has also faced criticism this week for inflating the risks of measles vaccines when discussing the record outbreak
in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Kennedy, whose department oversees the CDC, also has a history of criticizing vaccines
. 

Axios first reported the White House is pulling Weldon’s nomination. 

Weldon would have been the first CDC director nominee to face Senate confirmation, after a change passed by Congress. Previous picks to head the Atlanta-based public health agency were able to assume their posts immediately.

contributed to this report.