Dave Weldon Cites Two GOP Senators Over Withdrawn Nomination For CDC Director

Dr. Dave Weldon cited two GOP senators for allegedly blocking his nomination to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The White House pulled the former congressman’s nomination just before his scheduled Senate confirmation hearing.

UPDATE: CDC Director Nomination Withdrawn Moments Before Senate Confirmation Hearing

"Twelve hours before my scheduled confirmation hearing in The Senate, I received a phone call from an assistant at the White House informing me that my nomination to be Director of CDC was being withdrawn because there were not enough votes to get me confirmed. I then spoke to HHS Secretary Bobbie Kennedy who was very upset. He was told the same thing and that he had been looking forward to working with me at CDC. He said I was the perfect person for the job," Weldon said.

"Bobbie told me that earlier that morning he had breakfast with Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine who said she now had reservations about my nomination and was considering voting no. I had a very pleasant meeting with her 2 weeks prior where she expressed no reservation, but at my meeting with her staff on March 11 they were suddenly very hostile-a bad sign . They repeatedly accusing me of being 'antivax', even though I reminded them that I actually give hundreds of vaccines every year in my medical practice. More than Twenty years ago, while in congress I raised some concerns about childhood vaccine safety, and for some reason Collins staff suddenly couldn't get over that no matter what I said back," he continued.

"There are 12 Republicans and 11 Democrats on the committee so losing one, was a problem if all the Democrats vote no which they have been doing. I can assume that the White House staff had my nomination withdrawn also because the Republican Chairman Dr. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana was also voting no," he added.

Heartfelt statement sent to reporters from Dr Dave Weldon following withdrawal of his nomination for CDC (1/4): pic.twitter.com/QekXteTooS

— Mary Talley Bowden MD (@MdBreathe) March 13, 2025

A closer look:

The Hill reports:

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) and Maine Sen. Susan Collins (R) expressed their concerns over Dave Weldon’s nomination to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) prior to senior Trump administration officials deciding to withdraw it.

Murkowski relayed her concerns about Weldon directly to the White House, while Collins made an offhand remark about the nominee to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., though she had not reached a final decision on how she would vote.

Murkowski told reporters Thursday that she expressed her concerns about Weldon to the White House.

Asked if she had concerns about Weldon heading a leading public health agency, Murkowski replied, “Yes, I did, and I shared those.”

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She said she wasn’t surprised by the decision to withdraw his nomination.

Collins also raised concerns about Trump’s choice of Weldon, an outspoken critic of vaccine safety, to head the nation’s science-based service organization in charge of protecting the public’s health.

“He was too outspoken on vaccines is what it really looks like to me. Vaccines are the magic sauce that keeps the chronic disease epidemic going, and I think Dave Weldon understood that perfectly,” Mary Holland, president and general counsel at Children’s Health Defense, commented.

WATCH:

Dave Weldon’s Pulled CDC Nomination: ‘There was some kind of an alliance between Pharma and Senator Cassidy’

While we don’t know the ins and outs behind why Dr. Weldon’s nomination got pulled, it appears that his stance on vaccines more than likely contributed to that decision.… pic.twitter.com/cTohPAyPZb

— Children’s Health Defense (@ChildrensHD) March 13, 2025

Read the remainder of Weldon's statement: