Trump Withdraws Nominee for CDC Director, Dave Weldon

Dr. Dave Weldon is no longer poised to take over the health agency.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., on May 21, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

President Donald Trump has withdrawn his nomination of a former congressman to helm the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Dave Weldon, 71, is no longer under consideration to take the post of director of the CDC, a source familiar with the situation told The Epoch Times on March 13. The source said it was clear Weldon did not have enough votes for confirmation.

Weldon had been scheduled to appear before the Senate Health Committee on Thursday to answer questions as senators prepared to vote on the nomination. The panel listed the hearing as canceled.

Weldon, a U.S. Army veteran who represented Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2009, had received criticism for his positions on vaccines. Weldon said in a statement on Thursday that he has administered hundreds of vaccines each year in his practice but has been concerned about the safety of some of the shots.

Several Republicans, including Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the chairman of the committee, planned to vote against his nomination, Weldon said. With the Democrats on the panel expected to also vote no, the situation was “clearly too much for the White House,” Weldon said.

“The president is a busy man doing good work for our nation and the last thing he needs is a controversy about CDC,” he added.

After canceling Weldon’s appearance, the panel voted to advance Trump’s nominees to head the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health, two other divisions within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The vote to advance Dr. Marty Makary, Trump’s nominee to direct the Food and Drug Administration, was 14–9. The vote to advance Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Trump’s nominee to head the National Institutes of Health, was 12–11.

Republicans control the Senate. The party chairs each committee and has at least one more member than Democrats on each panel. A simple majority is sufficient to advance nominees and, when the full Senate votes, to confirm nominees.

Trump had chosen Weldon in late 2024, a few months before he took office. He said at the time that Weldon would “proudly restore the CDC to its true purpose and will work to end the chronic disease epidemic.”

The CDC is the nation’s health protection agency. It has about 12,600 staff members.

Weldon is a U.S. Army veteran who represented Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2009. Weldon chose to retire rather than run for another term.

A bid for a U.S. Senate seat in 2012 fell short in the Republican primary.

Weldon was a critic of the CDC while in Congress. He noted the CDC oversees vaccine safety while also promoting vaccination and he introduced legislation that would have created a new, independent agency to monitor the safety of vaccines.

Weldon, who has not commented on the withdrawal, was a critic of the CDC while in Congress. He noted the CDC oversees vaccine safety while also promoting vaccination and introduced legislation that would have created a new, independent agency to monitor the safety of vaccines.

Weldon said during a 2002 hearing on vaccines and autism that he would “never be satisfied that there isn’t some data suggesting that some children may have serious side effects,” including potentially autism, without more transparency.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has also said that autism is likely being caused in part by vaccines. Weldon said that Kennedy told him this week that he was the perfect person to head the CDC.

The CDC says on its website that studies have found “no link between receiving vaccines and developing autism.”