April 30, 2026, 1:03 PM EDT / Updated May 1, 2026, 2:28 PM EDT
President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a new nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Nicole Saphier, putting an end to months of speculation about whether the Senate would confirm his prior pick, Dr. Casey Means
Saphier is listed on Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s website as a radiologist and director of breast imaging at its facility in Monmouth County, New Jersey. She has also regularly appeared as a medical contributor on Fox News
If confirmed by the Senate, Saphier would become the nation’s top doctor, with the power to issue health advisories for the country
“Nicole is a STAR physician who has spent her career guiding women facing breast cancer through their diagnosis and treatment while tirelessly advocating to increase early cancer detection and prevention,” Trump wrote on Truth Social
The title of Saphier’s 2020 book, “Make America Healthy Again,” became the slogan for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s agenda. The book discusses many of the subjects that Kennedy has focused on, including the possibility of preventing chronic diseases by adjusting lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise
Her 2021 book, “Panic Attack,” criticizes pandemic-era shutdowns and school closures — views that align with those of several top health officials, including Kennedy and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who leads the National Institutes of Health and is acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for the Health and Human Services Department directed NBC News to the White House
Trump said Thursday on Truth Social that Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., had stood in the way of Means’ nomination and called him “a very disloyal person.”
“I nominated Casey, a strong MAHA Warrior, at the recommendation of Secretary Kennedy, who understands the MAHA Movement better than anyone, with perhaps the possible exception of ME!,” Trump wrote. “Nevertheless, despite Senator Cassidy’s intransigence and political games, Casey will continue to fight for MAHA on the many important Health issues facing our Country.”
Cassidy chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, where a vote on whether to advance Means’ nomination had stalled
“She didn’t have the votes to pass,” Cassidy told NBC News on Thursday. “The White House has known for a while she didn’t have the votes to pass.”
In response to Trump’s claim that he was disloyal, Cassidy said: “I can promise you there were multiple people on the committee who had decided to vote ‘no.’”
A bers on and off committee made clear they would never vote for her.”
“Many conservative leaders also shared public and private concerns,” the
Kennedy on Thursday also accused Cassidy of holding up the nomination
“By sabotaging this appointment, Bill Cassidy once again did the dirty work for entrenched interests seeking to stall the MAHA movement and protect the very status quo that has made America the sickest nation on earth,” Kennedy wrote on X
Cassidy, who cast a crucial vote for Kennedy to become health secretary,has opposed many of his vaccine policy changes, such as an update to the CDC website suggesting that there could be a link between vaccines and autism. Many scientific studies have debunked the claim. Ahead of his confirmation vote, Kennedy had assured Cassidy that he would not undermine faith in vaccines. The two recently sparred when Kennedy appeared before the HELP committee to discuss the proposed budget for the 2027 fiscal year.
Trump nominated Means, a close ally of Kennedy, for surgeon general nearly a year ago, after withdrawing his previous choice, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a former Fox News medical contributor
After Means’ nomination was announced, some health experts questioned her lack of an active medical license. Although she graduated from medical school, Means did not complete a surgical residency program and her license lapsed in 2024
Means gained attention on social media over the last couple of years for lambasting traditional medicine and accusing pharmaceutical companies of corruption. She has written that hormonal birth control comes with “horrifying health risks” and that birth control pills are “prescribed like candy.” She also suggested without evidence that the cumulative effect of childhood vaccines may be contributing to autism.
Means faced a tough confirmation hearing in February, when she fielded questions about those controversial views. During the hearing, she dodged some questions about her past statements, saying that all women should have access to birth control but that some faced a higher risk of side effects. She stopped short of recommending flu, measles or hepatitis B shots but acknowledged their lifesaving benefits. And she declined to rule out vaccines as a contributor to autism, saying “we should not leave any stones unturned” in the search for the condition’s root causes.
Some Democrats had also voiced concerns about possible conflicts of interest for Meansbecause she has earned money promoting dietary supplements and other wellness products online, many of which are not backed by scientific research
