White House pulls nomination of Dave Weldon to lead CDC

President Donald Trump’s administration has pulled its nomination of Dave Weldon to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee had been set to hold a hearing on Weldon’s confirmation Thursday morning, and Weldon was set to testify and make his case for leading the CDC. But the Senate committee announced that the White House had pulled Weldon’s nomination, The Washington Post reports.

Public health leaders expressed concerns over the choice of Weldon, given his record of questioning vaccine safety. Weldon, 71, is a physician and former congressman from Florida, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2009.

Still, the White House pulling Weldon’s nomination is surprising, since Trump has persuaded the Republican-led Senate to confirm all of his nominees. The Senate voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, despite public health leaders expressing concerns about Kennedy’s long record of misinformation about vaccine safety.

Weldon has promoted the discredited theory that thimerosal, a mercury-containing organic compound used as a preservative in vaccines, has links to autism. In Congress, Weldon criticized the CDC’s vaccine program and introduced legislation to provide more oversight of vaccine safety research.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state, said she met with Weldon last month to discuss his confirmation. Murray said Weldon repeated debunked theories about vaccines and said it would be dangerous for him to lead the CDC.

After hearing reports that Weldon's nomination is dropped, Murray issued a statement. "As we face one of the worst measles outbreaks in years thanks to President Trump, a vaccine skeptic who spent years spreading lies about safe and proven vaccines should never have even been under consideration to lead the foremost agency charged with protecting public health," Murray said.

"RFK Jr. is already doing incalculable damage by spreading lies and disinformation as the top health official in America," she said. "While I have little to no confidence in the Trump administration to do so, they should immediately nominate someone for this position who at bare minimum believes in basic science and will help lead CDC’s important work to monitor and prevent deadly outbreaks."

Public health leaders point out that Weldon hasn’t led a large public health agency. Critics also pointed out that while Weldon is a physician, he’s not an infectious disease doctor and hasn’t had a major role in public health.

Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association, told Chief Healthcare Executive® in an interview last fall that he would work with Weldon if he was confirmed, but he had concerns.

“I think the concern that anyone has is the fact that he hasn't gotten broader public health training,” Benjamin said. “And as you can imagine, some of the statements that he's made around vaccines give the vaccine community, and most public health practitioners, great pause.”

The withdrawal of Weldon’s nomination also comes days after the news that the CDC is going to engage in new research to determine if there’s a link between vaccines and autism, despite many studies finding no link whatsoever. Some health organizations have assailed the CDC’s plan, calling it a waste of time and resources amidst a spike in cases of measles. Critics also worry that the work could further undermine confidence in vaccines.