Weldon was told Wednesday night that his nomination was being withdrawn, another Trump administration official said. The White House decided to pull Weldon’s nomination when it became clear that he would not have the votes to be favorably reported out of committee because of his past controversial comments about vaccines, the official said.

Dr. Dave Weldon was to have appeared on Thursday in a confirmation hearing before the Senate health committee. He has close ties to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new health secretary.

The White House has withdrawn its candidate to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) just hours before he was set to testify before a Senate committee. President Donald Trump's administration pulled the nomination of Dave Weldon because "it was clear he did not have the votes in the Senate" to be confirmed,