The White House withdrew the nomination of Dr. David Weldon, a former Florida congressman and vaccine critic, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hours before a planned Senate hearing on Weldon’s nomination.
A person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the White House pulled the nomination because it became clear Weldon did not have the votes for confirmation.
Other news we’re following today:
Education department reels from job cuts: The department’s civil rights branch is losing nearly half its staff, effectively gutting an office that already faced a backlog of thousands of complaints from students and families across the nation. Separately, StudentAid.gov, the federal website for student loans and financial aid, experienced an hours-long outage on Wednesday, further underscoring the risks of rapid cuts.Trump threatens 200% tariffs on alcohol: In a post on Truth Social, Trump threatened tariffs on European wine, champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned tariff on American whiskey on April 1.Trump to host NATO secretary general: Mark Rutte, who heads the 32-member transatlantic military alliance, will meet with Trump at a pivotal moment for Europe and NATO. This comes as Trump’s rhetoric on the alliance continues to leave members uneasy.FEMA to review migrant shelter aid: The Trump administration has launched a review of organizations that provide temporary housing and other aid to migrants, suggesting they may have violated a law used to prosecute smugglers.