Trump CDC Director Nomination Pulled Hours Before Hearing
In an extraordinary development, the Trump White House On March 13 withdrew the nomination of David Weldon, M.D., to be the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) just a couple of hours before his confirmation hearing was to begin in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, with the White House acknowledging that Weldon lacked the support to be confirmed.
ABC News’s Will McDuffie, Katherine Faulders, Rachel Scott, and Cheyenne Haslett wrote on Thursday morning that “The White House on Thursday pulled President Donald Trump's nomination of Dr. David Weldon to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, multiple sources told ABC News. The withdrawal came just before Weldon was to appear for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, where he was expected to be grilled on his past comments questioning vaccine safety. The room was all set for the hearing before the developments, which was first reported by Axios.”
That report in Axios, which Caitlin Owens had published early Thursday morning, she had quoted Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) as saying that “Weldon repeated debunked claims about vaccines in a meeting they had last month. She called on the administration to pick a nominee ‘who at bare minimum believes in basic science and will help lead CDC's important work to monitor and prevent deadly outbreaks.’”
As the ABC News team reported, “Weldon was pulled because he didn't have the votes to be confirmed, according to two sources familiar with his nomination. This was the first time a CDC director nominee had to be Senate-confirmed. Weldon, a physician who served in Congress from 1995 until 2009, had kept a relatively low profile for years until being nominated by Trump in November. But his skepticism of established science around vaccines made him a popular pick among allies of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.”
The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel reported on Thursday morning that “A source familiar with the matter told The Hill it became clear to the White House that Weldon did not have the votes in the full Senate to be confirmed. The source said Weldon was informed Wednesday night that his nomination was being withdrawn.”
Further, wrote Weixel, “A White House official confirmed Weldon’s nomination was pulled but did not offer any additional specifics as to why he didn’t have enough support in Congress, though Weldon has come under scrutiny for his longtime promotion of anti-vaccine views. Weldon, a former Republican congressman from Florida, was to be the first CDC director subject to the confirmation process. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee announced it had canceled Weldon’s nomination hearing, originally set for 10 a.m. EDT Thursday, following the withdrawal,” he added.
Also on Thursday morning, the Washington Post’s Lena Sun, Dan Diamond, Rachel Roubein, and Fenit Nirappil, wrote that “The pulling of Weldon marks a rare setback for a Trump administration nominee. The Senate has confirmed every controversial choice brought to a full vote on the floor to date. Weldon, a 71-year-old doctor who left Congress in 2009, drew scrutiny for his longtime promotion of the false claims that vaccines can cause autism.”
They wrote that, “In a four-page statement, Weldon said a White House assistant called him Wednesday night to inform him his nomination was being withdrawn because he lacked the votes to be confirmed. Weldon said Republican senators concerned about his vaccine views doomed his nomination and that he suspected the pharmaceutical industry also played a role.”
And they quoted Weldon as stating that “The president is a busy man doing good work for our nation and the last thing he needs is a controversy about CDC. Hopefully they can find someone for CDC who can survive the confirmation process and get past pharma and find some answers.” The Post reporters added that “The White House push to abandon Weldon was partly driven by concerns about the political consequences of his vaccine views, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations.”
Meanwhile, the New York Times’s Apoorva Mandavilli and Sheryl Gay Stolberg wrote on Thursday morning that “His hearing was set to take place amid significant measles outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico, which have infected more than 250 people and claimed two lives; a flu season that led to record numbers of hospitalizations; and the potential for a bird flu epidemic. He had repeatedly questioned the safety of the measles vaccine and criticized the C.D.C. for not doing enough to prove that vaccines are safe.” And they quoted a statement that Weldon released on Thursday morning in which he said that “They never did it the right way.” The Times reporters also noted of Weldon that “He also praised the work of discredited British doctor Andrew Wakefield, who first proposed the theory that vaccines cause autism. ‘We might be able to do research and figure out why some kids have a bad reaction to the M.M.R.,’ Dr. Weldon wrote, despite dozens of studies that have disproved a link. ‘Clearly, big Pharma didn’t want me in the C.D.C. investigating any of this.’”
With regard to the measles outbreak in the Southwest, the New York Times’s Jonathan Corum and Teddy Rosenbluth reported on March 13 that “Measles continues to spread in West Texas and New Mexico, with more than 250 people infected — many unvaccinated school-age children. Two cases in Oklahoma, for which state officials have not provided a location, have also been linked to these outbreaks. Twelve other states have reported isolated measles cases, typically linked to international travel. The Texas outbreak began in late January, when local health officials reported two cases in Gaines County, a rural agricultural area on the western edge of the state.”
Further, Corum and Rosenbluth wrote on Thursday, “The outbreak quickly escalated. Measles has spread into neighboring counties and infected at least 223 people as of Tuesday, including 29 people who have been hospitalized and an unvaccinated young child who died, the first such death in the United States in a decade. New Mexico also declared an outbreak in Lea County, which borders Gaines County. While the cases in New Mexico have not officially been connected to the Texas outbreak, officials have said they are ‘undoubtedly related.’”
Separately, officials at the CDC on March 5 had that the CDC Quality Conference, which they had described as “bring[ing] together a collaborative community of advocates, providers, researchers, and champions focused on a commitment of quality care for all,” with this year’s theme being “Elevating Quality— Advancing Optimal Health for Individuals, Families, Caregivers, Clinicians and Communities,” has been postponed. The announcement, sent to the public in an email from Dora Hughes, M.D., CMS’ Chief Medical Officer, had stated that “The upcoming CMS Quality Conference, scheduled for March 17-19, 2025, has been postponed. Future conference dates will be announced at a later time. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.”
This is a developing story. Healthcare Innovation will update readers as new developments emerge.
