Dave Weldon says his nomination to be CDC director is withdrawn

March 13 (UPI) -- The Trump administration on Thursday retracted the nomination of Dave Weldon to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC.

The former Florida congressman was scheduled to appear before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee Thursday but the confirmation hearing was canceled following the withdrawal.

The White House has not made an official statement but The New York Times shared a statement by Weldon saying he received a phone call Wednesday from the White House that his nomination was being withdrawn because he wouldn't receive enough votes to be confirmed.

He further purported that Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Bill Cassidy M.D., R-La., were going to vote against his confirmation, which would combine with expected no votes from the 11 Democrats on the committee and make his confirmation impossible.

The statement also accused the pharmaceutical industry of lobbying against him, and that while it allegedly tried but failed to block Robert F. Kennedy Jr,'s confirmation as United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, that "big Pharma actually feared me more than they feared Bobby because of my credibility and my knowledge of science and medicine."

Weldon continued through his statement to allege that the pharmaceutical industry and the CDC had been working against his confirmation, noting in conclusion that he is viewed "very negatively by the industry that I use on a daily basis to help my patients," then complimented Kennedy and President Donald Trump for making Kennedy the HHS Secretary before closing with hopes that "they can find someone for CDC who can survive the confirmation process and get past pharma and find some answers."

Weldon's views regarding particular vaccines had gathered attention and were expected to make up a significant portion of the questioning that would have occurred had the hearing taken place.

Weldon, an internal medicine doctor, had served in the House of Representatives from 1995 through 2009, and was a sponsor of a bill that would have banned mercury from vaccines.