(Headline USA) The White House has withdrawn the nomination of Dr. David Weldon, a former Florida congressman, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Senate health committee announced Thursday morning that it was canceling a planned hearing on Weldon’s nomination because of the withdrawal.

A person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the White House pulled the nomination because it became clear Weldon did not have the votes for confirmation.

Weldon was considered to be closely aligned with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. health secretary who for years has been one of the nation’s leading anti-vaccine activists.

A former Florida congressman, Weldon also has been a prominent critic of vaccines and the CDC, which promotes vaccines and monitors their safety.

After news of his withdrawal broke, a clip circulated online of him criticizing the lack of transparency at the CDC in 2002.

President Trump just withdrew Dr. Dave Weldon’s nomination to lead CDC.

Dr. Weldon is a MAHA champion who SLAMMED the CDC’s censorship of vaccine safety data in a 2002 hearing.

“The CDC still does not allow researchers access to the vaccine safety data.”

“If everything was so… pic.twitter.com/eppy43v8zw

— Holden Culotta (@Holden_Culotta) March 13, 2025

“If everything was so objective and any scientist at all can look at this stuff, it would be one thing,” Weldon said at the time.

“But they continue to deny people access to this information,” he said.

“Until we get a free and open dialogue within the scientific community, I don’t think I will ever be satisfied that there isn’t some data suggesting that some children may have serious side effects from some of these vaccines that is really going undetected, unnoticed and yes, it may actually cause autism.”

Weldon becomes the third Trump administration nominee who didn’t make it to a confirmation hearing. Previously, former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration for attorney general and Chad Chronister for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press