Editor's note: This story has been updated with comments from Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA).
The Trump administration is withdrawing the nomination of physician and former Florida congressman David Weldon, MD, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to media reports.
Weldon, who served in Congress from 1995 to 2009, was scheduled to have a confirmation hearing today before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). Weldon was likely to face many questions from committee members about his views on vaccines, given his history of questioning the safety of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and his past criticism of the CDC over vaccine safety research. In 2007, Weldon coauthored a bill that would have removed vaccine safety research from the CDC.
Weldon, like Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has long promoted the theory that the MMR vaccine is linked to an increase in autism diagnoses, despite multiple studies that have found no such association. As Stat reports, Weldon appeared in a 2016 documentary that suggested the federal health agencies had conspired to cover up the link between the MMR vaccine and autism.
The CDC is one of 13 agencies overseen by HHS. The director oversees US immunization policy for children and adults.
Measles outbreak highlights concerns about anti-vaccine views
Today’s hearing was also set to take place against the backdrop of a growing measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico that is largely occurring in unvaccinated children. Although Kennedy wrote in a recent opinion piece on the outbreak that the MMR vaccine protects children and communities against measles infection, he has also continued to suggest there are safety issues with the vaccine and has said the decision to vaccinate is a personal one.
In a statement issued by her office, Senate HELP Committee member Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said that with the nation facing one of the worst measles outbreaks in years, a vaccine skeptic like Weldon never should have been in consideration to lead the CDC.
"RFK Jr. is already doing incalculable damage by spreading lies and disinformation as the top health official in America," Murray 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.”
Axios was the first outlet to report on the withdrawal. The New York Times reports that the administration was concerned Weldon did not have the votes in the Senate for confirmation.
Weldon would have been the first CDC nominee to face the confirmation process. The director’s position previously didn’t require Senate confirmation, but that changed in 2023. There is no word yet on who the administration will nominate next to lead the CDC.
In other federal health agency news, the Senate HELP Committee today voted to endorse Marty Makary, MD, MPH, to be the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, to be director of the National Institutes of Health. The nominees will now face a vote before the full Senate, where they are expected to be confirmed.
