U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Friday announced that Dave Weldon is his choice to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, a sweeping U.S. agency with a $17.

Johns Hopkins surgeon Dr. Marty Makary is his choice for the FDA and Dr. Janette Nesheiwat is in line to be the next surgeon general. Dr. Dave Weldon of Florida is slated to run the CDC.

Weldon has questioned the safety of some vaccines and advocated for limits on abortion. He'll be the first CDC director to face Senate confirmation.

While in Congress, Weldon introduced a bill that would give responsibility for the nation's vaccine safety to an independent agency within the HHS.

Weldon, 71, is a medical doctor and former lawmaker who served in the House, representing Florida. The former congressman has been a strong critic of the CDC, especially its vaccine program. Weldon has championed the long-debunked notion that thimerosal, a vaccine preservative, is linked to autism.

In selecting a doctor who is skeptical of vaccine safety, the president-elect is emphasizing his commitment to reforming the role of federal health agencies in radical ways.

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Dave Weldon to be director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tapping a former Florida politician and physician to lead the nation’s public health agency.

President-elect Donald Trump announced that former Rep. Dr. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., is his pick as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Makary and Weldon, who have criticized the agencies they may soon run, were joined by Janette Nesheiwat, Trump’s pick to be surgeon general.

President-elect Donald Trump has tapped former Florida Rep. Dave Weldon, a physician and vaccine safety skeptic, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.