White House considering Burgess to lead CDC, sources say

By Michael Erman and Jarrett Renshaw

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The White House is considering former Republican Representative Michael Burgess to run the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after withdrawing the nomination of vaccine critic Dave Weldon last week, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

One of the sources said Burgess was the likely nominee but cautioned no decision had been made.

Burgess, 74, is a Texas physician who retired from Congress in January after 22 years. During the pandemic, he described vaccines to Congress as "safe and effective tools that have been proven to protect Americans from preventable, life-threatening diseases," and spoke about the need to confront vaccine hesitancy in the country.

Burgess, the White House and the CDC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The CDC director would lead the response to public health threats, including the measles outbreak in West Texas and New Mexico that has killed two people, and play a critical role in the response to the spread of bird flu.

Burgess would report to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has sown doubt about the safety of vaccines for decades. Kennedy has stopped short of urging parents that children be vaccinated in response to the measles outbreak, saying it is a matter of personal choice.

Before being appointed, Kennedy pledged to Senator Bill Cassidy, a doctor who had expressed wariness about the secretary's anti-vaccine views, that he would protect existing vaccination programs. Cassidy, who heads the health committee that would review Burgess' nomination, did not respond to a request for comment.

The CDC is responsible for making vaccine recommendations for Americans, including by making the childhood vaccination schedule, and funds vaccines for children who otherwise would not have access to them.

The CDC is currently overseen by Susan Monarez, who was previously deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health.

Weldon's nomination was pulled in a surprise move before his scheduled Senate confirmation hearing last Thursday. Weldon, a physician who has criticized vaccines, said he had been told there were not enough votes for confirmation.

(Reporting by Michael Erman; additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Ahmed Aboulenein in Washington; editing by Caroline Humer and Rod Nickel)