# The White House is Pulling David Weldon's Nomination as CDC Director

The Trump White House has pulled the nomination of  for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director, Fox News Digital has confirmed. Weldon was expected to have his confirmation hearing on Thursday.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee announced that it had canceled its hearing in a statement on Thursday morning. However, it confirmed that lawmakers would still vote on the nominations of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya for National Institutes of Health (NIH) director and Dr. Marty Makary for Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.



A general view of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta on Sept. 30, 2014. (Reuters/Tami Chappell)



"It became clear that the votes weren't there in the Senate for him to get confirmed. This would have been a futile effort," a source familiar with the nomination told Fox News Digital. However, there is no official reason for pulling the nomination at this time.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Weldon was unaware that his nomination had been pulled until he reached the Capitol on Thursday morning. However, Fox News Digital's source said Weldon was told Wednesday night.



Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., flanked by Reps. Brian Kerns, R-Ind., left, and Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, talks to reporters after the ban on human cloning passed the House on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on July 31, 2001. (Shawn Thew/AFP via Getty Images)



Weldon, a medical doctor and former Florida congressman, has made statements against vaccines in the past, which were expected to be brought up during his hearing. In a 2007 statement, Weldon said there were "legitimate questions" about potential links between vaccines and childhood neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism.

Additionally, during his time in Congress, he introduced legislation with former Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., that would have banned mercury from vaccines.



HHS Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. testifies during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)



The question of vaccine skepticism came up during now-HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s . Democrats on the Senate HELP Committee repeatedly brought up Kennedy’s claims linking vaccines to autism.

They also asked about his time serving as chairman and chief litigation counsel, for Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit organization that has advocated against vaccines and sued the federal government numerous times.

_Fox News Channel’s Peter Doocy and Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report._

Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.

## Related Topics

- 
- 
```