White House withdraws CDC director nomination just before his Senate confirmation hearing
The White House has withdrawn the nomination of former Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., whom President Donald Trump had chosen to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a senior administration official said.
WASHINGTON — The White House has withdrawn the nomination of former Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., whom President Donald Trump had chosen to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a senior administration official said.
The development came just before Weldon was set to testify at his Senate confirmation hearing at 10 a.m. ET before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Axios was the first to report the news, citing sources on Capitol Hill.
It wasn’t immediately clear why his nomination was pulled. The Senate committee chairman, Bill Cassidy, R-La., was looking forward to the hearing, but Weldon didn’t have the votes from the panel to get the nomination onto the Senate floor, a source on Capitol Hill close to the chairman said.
Cassidy, a doctor, had raised concerns about the anti-vaccine advocacy of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. before his confirmation as health secretary last month. Weldon has held some vaccine views similar to those of Kennedy.
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