White House Pulls Nomination for CDC Director

With measles running rampant across the Southwest and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) saying that everyone should get the measles (seriously, he really said the words), a lot of Americans are concerned about their health and, just as importantly, the people who are allegedly supposed to keep us healthy. This was to be the first time that the position of Director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would require full Senate confirmation. Teed up was Dr. Dave Weldon, a Republican former congressman who was to have appeared at a Senate confirmation hearing Thursday morning.

Last night, Dr. Weldon received a phone call from the White House saying that his nomination was being pulled because “we don’t have the votes.” The call came as a surprise. While some of the White House nominations have faced a considerable amount of grilling from Senators, most have managed to survive the process no matter how unfit they were for the role. Dr. Weldon is a long-time friend of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the Secretary of HHS. They share similarly stupid views about vaccines. They’re both old.

The Senate Committee on Health Education, Labor, and Pensions canceled Dr. Weldon’s hearing. But the panel voted to advance to the full Senate two other health nominees, Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health and Dr. Martin Makary to head the Food and Drug Administration. The same panel will meet to confirm Dr. Mehmet Oz as Director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Friday. The idiocy of this administration apparently has no bottom.

Dr. Wheldon was apparently itching to get into the planned investigation of vaccines, something Kennedy has been pushing for a long time. “Clearly, big Pharma didn’t want me in the C.D.C. investigating any of this.”

We don’t know what size tinfoil hat Dr. Wheldon wears but we’re fairly sure it’s a big one.

In an interview with The New York Times in late November, Dr. Weldon said that he had worked “to get the mercury out of the childhood vaccines.” He was looking forward to having access to the database to ‘investigate’ the matter for himself.

There were no vocal opponents to Dr. Weldon’s nomination and the vote was expected to fall upon party lines. No indication was given as to which Republican Senator might not have voted for the nominee.

The White House has not yet announced a possible replacement for Dr. Weldon. Most qualified physicians wouldn’t go near the job with this administration.