Why public health leaders have concerns with Dave Weldon, Trump’s CDC nominee

President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Dave Weldon to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may not be as unconventional as some of his other picks for top federal posts, but the nomination has still raised some eyebrows.

Some public health leaders have expressed concerns about President-elect Trump's nomination of Dave Weldon to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Trump unveiled his choice of Weldon, MD, amidst a flurry of other announcements in late November. Weldon, 71, is a physician and former congressman from Florida, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2009.

Public health leaders point out that Weldon hasn’t led a large public health agency and isn’t an expert in infectious diseases. Previous CDC directors have typically checked one of those boxes, either spending their careers studying infectious diseases or holding substantial health leadership experience.

Weldon has also promoted the discredited theory that thimerosal, a mercury-containing organic compound used as a preservative in vaccines, has links to autism. In Congress, Weldon criticized the CDC’s vaccine program and introduced legislation to provide more oversight of vaccine safety research.

Public health leaders also worry that Trump has chosen a pick aligned with the views of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy has long spoken out against the safety and efficacy of vaccines, and many public health leaders are alarmed at the possibility of Kennedy leading the health department and helping to set health policy.

Trump’s nomination of Weldon hasn’t engendered as much outrage. But public health leaders have some concerns about Weldon leading the CDC and the implications for public health.

Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association, tells Chief Healthcare Executive® that the group will work with Weldon if he’s confirmed to improve public health and respond to infectious diseases.

“He's a well-trained internist and has many years of practicing clinical medicine,” Benjamin says. “So his training and skill and expertise as a physician is great. He obviously doesn't have any formal training in public health, but neither do I, although I've been doing it for quite some time.”

“I think the concern that anyone has is the fact that he hasn't gotten broader public health training,” Benjamin says. “And as you can imagine, some of the statements that he's made around vaccines give the vaccine community, and most public health practitioners, great pause.”

Lacking typical background

Amesh Adalja, MD, an infectious disease physician and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, tells Chief Healthcare Executive® that Weldon is not known as a major figure in the fight against communicable diseases. Adalja is also disturbed that Weldon is aligned with the views of Kennedy and says Weldon lacks the experience of a typical CDC director.

“He's not an infectious disease doctor. He's not had a major public health role,” Adalja says of Weldon.

“The CDC director is meant to lead public health responses to communicable diseases and health security threats that arise,” he adds. “And I think you want someone that's been in the field, that has experience.”

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Rochelle Walensky, MD, who served as CDC director from 2021 through 2023, received some initial criticism because she hadn’t managed a large health agency, Benjamin recalls. But Walensky is an infectious diseases clinician and served as chief of the division of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Robert Redfield, MD, led the CDC during Trump’s first term. The CDC director from 2018 through 2021, Redfield spent decades studying infectious diseases, including HIV, and was chief of infectious diseases at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Tom Frieden, MD, who led the CDC from 2009 through 2017, had training in infectious diseases and ran the New York City Health Department for seven years.

Trump hailed Weldon’s four decades of experience as a physician, and also pointed to his service in the Army. The president-elect also said he expects Weldon to help make progress on chronic diseases.

"Dave will prioritize Transparency, Competence, and High Standards at CDC,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Dave will proudly restore the CDC to its true purpose, and will work to end the Chronic Disease Epidemic, and Make America Healthy Again!"

For his part, Kennedy welcomed the nomination of Weldon. “Dave's leadership at CDC will bring the truth and transparency needed to restore the public's confidence in this institution,” Kennedy wrote on X.

Healthcare leaders welcome a greater focus on chronic diseases, but they cringe at the idea of giving less attention to infectious diseases. They point to the spread of H5N1 and the rise of cases of measles and pertussis, also called whooping cough.

“I'm somebody that thinks that the CDC should really concentrate on its core mission,” Adalja says. “The CDC used to be called the Communicable Disease Center. So I do think that we have to get much more competence, and competent people leading CDC, that are very focused on infectious disease threats.”

Public health leaders are more concerned about the prospects of Kennedy leading the U.S. Health Department, given his derision of vaccines and statements suggesting that the agency will focus less on infectious diseases. Health leaders have said the nomination of Kennedy is dangerous and disastrous.

Kennedy has said he won’t eliminate vaccines, and some support his calls to give more attention to chronic diseases and ultra-processed food. But critics say his opposition to vaccines and lack of any health or scientific background should be disqualifying.

“We do not believe that Mr. Kennedy is qualified to be HHS secretary, and do not believe that he should have that job under any circumstances,” Benjamin says.

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Seeking a thorough Senate review

When it comes to Weldon’s nomination, Benjamin says he hopes the Senate takes a close look at his record and gives him proper scrutiny. Unlike in the past, the CDC director now requires Senate confirmation.

Benjamin says he hopes lawmakers “go through his core beliefs, make sure we understand exactly what his thoughts and plans are for the agency. And then again, should he be confirmed, we look forward to working with him.”

With more than two decades as the leader of the American Public Health Association, Benjamin says he has some experience with Weldon. He notes that the group does report cards on how members of Congress vote on key health measures.

“He did not score real well on many of the things we thought were important,” Benjamin says, although he notes that report cards are focused on the bills being considered at that time.

As an internist, Weldon certainly dealt with patients with infectious diseases, Benjamin says.

But Benjamin also notes, “He’s never run anything as complex as the CDC.”

With Weldon having relationships with lawmakers, he could help the agency develop better ties with Congress, which could be helpful, Benjamin says.

“The fact that he has been a legislator, I think will be interesting, because he will hopefully be able to strengthen the relationships and ties between the CDC and the Congress,” Benjamin says. “I think that's on the plus of his nomination.”

If Weldon is confirmed, Benjamin says his group will assist him in any way possible.

“If he's successful, then the public health will be successful, which is our goal,” Benjamin says.

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