Trump administration withdraws CDC director nomination just before Senate hearing

The White House has withdrawn the nomination of David Weldon, a former Florida congressman, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.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. That happened less than an hour before it was scheduled to begin. Weldon says a White House assistant told him on Wednesday night that his nomination was being withdrawn because “there were not enough votes to get me confirmed." Weldon is 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.