White House withdraws nomination for former Congressman Dave Weldon to lead CDC

The White House on Thursday pulled the nomination of former Florida Rep. Dave Weldon to be director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"It was clear he did not have the votes in the Senate," an administration official said regarding the nomination being withdrawn, according to CBS News.

The decision was made right before Weldon was set to appear before the Senate health committee for a confirmation hearing. 

The news outlet Axios, which broke the story, reports, based on unnamed sources, that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Weldon wasn't ready for the position.

Weldon served in the House of Representatives from 1995 through 2009. He is also an internal medicine doctor.