White House withdraws Trump's pick Dave Weldon for CDC director

Washington: The White House is withdrawing President Donald Trump's nomination of Republican former congressman and vaccine critic Dave Weldon to serve as director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a source briefed on the matter said on Thursday.

Weldon, a physician who has opposed abortion rights, had been scheduled to appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday for a confirmation hearing. The committee confirmed the withdrawal of the nomination and said the hearing had been canceled.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Weldon lacked the votes needed for Senate confirmation.

The development was first reported by the Axios news outlet.

The Atlanta-based CDC, with an annual budget of $17.3 billion, tracks and responds to domestic and foreign threats to public health. Roughly two-thirds of its budget provides funds to the public health and prevention activities of state and local health agencies.

While in Congress, Weldon challenged studies demonstrating the safety of childhood vaccines, asserting they were harmful and linked with autism, a theory espoused by longtime vaccine skeptic Kennedy but debunked by scientists. Reuters has reported that the CDC does plan to study autism and vaccines.