White House Withdraws Nominee to Run CDC

The White House has withdrawn its nominee to run the CDC because it became clear that former Florida congressman David Weldon did not have the votes for confirmation, reports the AP. The Senate health committee announced Thursday morning that it was canceling a planned hearing on Weldon's nomination to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because of the withdrawal. Weldon was considered to be closely aligned with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the US health secretary who for years has been one of the nation's leading anti-vaccine activists.

The Washington Post notes that it's a rare defeat for President Trump in regard to his nominations:

• "Trump had plucked Weldon from political retirement for the role, selecting a social conservative best known in public health circles for promoting the debunked link between vaccines and autism," the report reads. "Some public health advocates fighting Weldon's nomination have called that record disqualifying, as vaccine skepticism moves from the fringe to the upper echelons of federal health policy."

(More Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stories.)