Trump drops surgeon general pick, taps influencer for job

Lia DeGroot, CQ-Roll Call on May 7, 2025

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WASHINGTON — In a last-minute shakeup ahead of a nomination hearing planned for Thursday, President Donald Trump dropped his original pick for surgeon general and selected Casey Means, a health influencer, author and key player in the “Make America Healthy Again” movement.

The announcement comes after Bloomberg reported earlier Wednesday that Janette Nesheiwat, a frequent Fox News medical contributor, was out for the role.

“Casey has impeccable ‘MAHA’ credentials, and will work closely with our wonderful Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to ensure a successful implementation of our Agenda in order to reverse the Chronic Disease Epidemic, and ensure Great Health, in the future, for ALL Americans,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Wednesday afternoon.

In the same post, Trump said that Nesheiwat will serve HHS in “another capacity.”

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee had scheduled to hold a nomination hearing for Nesheiwat and James O’Neill, nominated as deputy secretary of Health and Human Services on Thursday. The committee plans to conduct only O’Neill’s portion of the hearing.

Means is a health influencer who received her doctorate of medicine from Stanford University in 2014, according to her LinkedIn profile. She and her brother Calley, an adviser to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have been at the forefront of Kennedy’s MAHA movement.

Means was previously known mainly for her health tech company, Levels, which focused on tracking metabolic health. Last year, Means published a diet book, “Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health.”

Nesheiwat was a frequent Fox News medical contributor and previously worked at the Time Square CityMD urgent care clinic. Laura Loomer, a far right activist and Trump ally, slammed Nesheiwat on X earlier this week over her comments in support of the COVID-19 vaccine and called into question Nesheiwat’s medical credentials.

Nesheiwat received her medical degree from American University of the Caribbean and completed her residency in the United States, according to CBS News.

Jerome Adams, the surgeon general under the first Trump administration, criticized the decision in a post on X following the Bloomberg report.

“IDK what’s more troubling — the possibility that she may have been pulled because of stigma against foreign medical graduates … or that it may have been for supporting vaccines,” Adams said.

He said that medical graduates from foreign countries provide care for a large portion of the country, particularly in rural areas, and that they shouldn’t be stigmatized.

The White House did not return a request for comment on why Nesheiwat was pulled.

The surgeon general oversees the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, a group of 6,000 officers who help shape the administration’s public health agenda and messaging. Most recently the Office of the Surgeon General has focused on public health issues like alcohol use, mental health and suicide prevention.

The nomination change follows a similar move in March when the White House abruptly pulled Dave Weldon as its nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over concerns that he wouldn’t be able to garner support from key senators.