The White House withdrew US President Donald Trump’s nomination of former Republican congressman and vaccine critic Dave Weldon to serve as director of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, a surprise move that came shortly before his scheduled Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday.
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Weldon, a doctor who has a long history of opposing vaccines, said in a four-page statement posted by The New York Times that he had been informed 12 hours before the hearing by the White House that there were not enough votes for confirmation.
Weldon is the first Trump nominee withdrawn from consideration, after the Republican-majority Senate confirmed unconventional picks including anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jnr as Health and Human Services Secretary, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth for Defence Secretary and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who had been critical of US intelligence efforts.
The decision to withdraw Weldon, which was confirmed by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, comes as the US faces measles cases in several states and a widening outbreak in West Texas and New Mexico that has killed two people, as well as the threat of bird flu.
Weldon denied he was anti-vaccine and said in the letter he believed US senators including Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Help Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy of Louisiana were voting against him. Reuters could not immediately confirm the contents of the letter.
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Weldon would have reported to Kennedy, who since his confirmation has made misleading comments on the role of measles vaccines and treatments.
