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Trump’s first surgeon general tries to stop nominee from becoming his second
Casey Means has been nominated for nearly 11 months despite lacking a medical license and public health experience, drawing criticism from all previous U.S. surgeon generals.
- Former Surgeon General Jerome Adams urged the Senate on Sunday to reject President Donald Trump's nominee Casey Means, arguing she fails to meet basic physician requirements for the 6,000-person Public Health Commissioned Corps.
- Means's nomination has stalled in the Senate for nearly 11 months amid Republican concerns about her inactive medical license and her abandonment of surgical residency in favor of functional medicine.
- Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona stated Means lacks "experience" and "credibility," while no past surgeon general has publicly defended her qualifications against the unified professional rebuke.
- White House official Calley Means denounced Adams as a "lightweight," prompting Adams to reply that "lowering the discourse to crass ad hominem attacks comes across as childish and defensive."
- Lawmakers remain frustrated with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine policy agenda, leaving the surgeon general post vulnerable to prolonged vacancy or continued contestation.
5 Articles
5 Articles
Trump’s Former Surgeon General Rips the President’s Current Nominee: ‘The Nation’s Doctor’ Wouldn’t Be a Doctor
AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File Donald Trump’s surgeon general during his first term, Dr. Jerome Adams, is speaking out against the president’s pick to be the nation’s top doctor during his second term. Trump nominated Casey Means, a Stanford-educated physician and former ear, nose, and throat surgeon who left conventional medicine and let her license to practice lapse in favor of becoming a wellness influencer. Means’s approach to “functional medicin…
Trump's first surgeon general comes out to derail current nominee as 'unqualified'
Trump's embattled surgeon general nominee took another hit this week when the president's own former Surgeon General Jerome Adams publicly called for her rejection, saying Casey Means is fundamentally unqualified for the job.According to the Washington Post, Adams has made it clear he views Means as lacking the necessary credentials and is actively working to tank her nomination — a particularly damaging blow since no past surgeon general has st…
Trump's first surgeon general: New influencer pick 'doesn't meet' basic requirements
President Donald Trump’s first surgeon general denounced his latest pick for surgeon general, MAHA influencer Casey Means, on the grounds that she “doesn’t meet” the basic requirements for the job — an assessment seemingly shared by every living previous surgeon general.“The role of surgeon general has centuries of precedent and requirements, and she doesn’t meet them,” Trump’s first surgeon general Jerome Adams told The Washington Post in an ar…
Means' Surgeon General Nomination Is Stalled As Senators Question Her Experience And Vaccine Stance
Dr. Casey Means testifies during a Senate Health, Education Labor and Pension Committee confirmation hearing for U.S. Surgeon General on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Washington. (Tom Brenner / AP Photo) Committee Chair Senator Bill Cassidy R-La. holds his head as Dr. Casey Means testifies during a Senate Health, Education Labor and Pension Committee confirmation hearing for U.S. Surgeon General on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Feb. 25, 20…
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