President Trump's pick for surgeon general, Casey Means, is in jeopardy, as at least four Republican senators have expressed misgivings over her medical qualifications, views on vaccines, and some dubious advice she's given as a wellness influencer, according to reporting from The Washington Post.
Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) all expressed concern in a confirmation hearing last month about her potential role and appear to remain doubtful. Just one of those senators may be enough to block her nomination from advancing beyond the Senate Health Committee.
Means, who was nominated more than 10 months ago, is known as a prominent wellness influencer within the Make America Healthy Again movement and a close ally of anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who started it. In the hearing, senators pressed Means on her views on vaccines, including shots against the flu and measles and a dose of hepatitis B vaccine for newborns. She largely dodged the questions, refusing to explicitly recommend the life-saving shots, and avoided overtly contradicting Kennedy's anti-vaccine views and misinformation.