Dr. Dave Weldon is no longer poised to take over the health agency.
President Donald Trump is withdrawing 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.
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 lists the hearing as canceled. A spokesperson for the committee did not return an inquiry.
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.
By Zachary Stieber and Emel Akan
