Weldon. Photo: Tom Williams/Roll Call/Getty Images
Multiple GOP senators said Thursday that they had concerns with Dave Weldon's nomination to lead the CDC, pointing to his vaccine criticism and general lack of preparation.
Why it matters: It was clear that Weldon lacked the votes to be confirmed, marking a rare instance in which a President Trump nominee went down in a GOP-controlled Senate.
- The nomination was abruptly pulled Thursday morning just before a scheduled Senate HELP confirmation hearing, as Axios scooped.
Driving the news: Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis said afterward that they had concerns with the former Florida congressman's nomination.
- "I had some reservations, but I certainly had not reached a final judgment," Collins told reporters Thursday.
- The withdrawal of the nomination nonetheless caught multiple senators off guard. "It's not something I anticipated," Collins said.
- A source familiar said that Weldon was unprepared in a meeting with Senate staff members and didn't appear to be familiar with CDC's authorities or the responsibilities of the CDC director.
- At one point, a Collins staffer asked what Weldon would say to those who would characterize him as "anti-vax" and how he would address that perception.
The other side: Weldon issued a statement Thursday morning after the nomination was pulled, and he particularly called out certain senators and their staff.
- "At my meeting with her [Collins'] staff on March 11 they were suddenly very hostile — a bad sign," Weldon wrote.
- "They repeatedly [accused] me of being 'anti-vax,' even though I reminded them that I actually give hundreds of vaccines every year in my medical practice," wrote Weldon, who practiced as a physician in Florida.
- Weldon also said he assumed his nomination was withdrawn because HELP Chair Bill Cassidy was going to vote "no."
- Cassidy later said in a statement that he was "looking forward to the hearing" and "was surprised when Dr. Weldon's nomination was withdrawn."
- "His poor response to this situation shows that the pressures of being CDC director would have been too much," Cassidy said in the statement.
What they're saying: Tillis and Murkowski also said they had concerns.
- "I think it makes sense," Tillis said of the nomination being pulled. "Some of us who had some concerns with [HHS Secretary Robert F.] Kennedy's previous statements got past that because we believe that scientists running some of these three-letter health agencies are going to be driven by data."
- "[Weldon's] past comments had raised enough questions where I didn't feel like going in that it was going to be purely driven by science, and I think the White House recognized that and I appreciate them making the decision they did," Tillis added.
What's next: Sources said it was too early to tell who might replace Weldon, though one mentioned Brett Giroir, who was assistant secretary for health during the first Trump administration.
- Asked about replacements, Tillis said, "I just want a propeller-head scientist that's driven by facts, data and research, period."
