The White House has withdrawn the nomination of David Weldon to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee announced the decision to cancel his nomination hearing Thursday morning.

A person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press the reason for the cancellation was because “it became clear Weldon did not have the votes for confirmation.”

Weldon was considered to be closely aligned with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary who for years has been one of the nation’s leading anti-vaccine activists.

A former Florida congressman, Weldon also has been a prominent critic of vaccines and the CDC, which promotes vaccines and monitors their safety.

Sen. Patty Murray expressed serious concerns about Weldon after she held a private meeting with him last month where he said he believes there’s a link between vaccines and autism.

“In our meeting last month, I was deeply disturbed to hear Dr. Weldon repeat debunked claims about vaccines — it’s dangerous to put someone in charge at CDC who believes the lie that our rigorously tested childhood vaccine schedule is somehow exposing kids to toxic levels of mercury or causing autism,” Murray said in a statement.

Weldon becomes the third Trump administration nominee who didn’t make it to a confirmation hearing. Previously, former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration for attorney general and Chad Chronister for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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