Dr. Casey Means Under the Microscope As Trump’s Surgeon General Nominee Is Weighed in the Balance – RedState

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held confirmation hearings on Wednesday for President Donald Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Casey Means. After Trump rescinded the nomination of Dr. Janette Nesheiwat in early May 2025, he followed with the nomination of Means. The surgeon general’s confirmation hearing was supposed to take place in October 2025, but Means, who was pregnant at the time, went into labor five hours before the hearing was scheduled to begin.

Means’ appointment has been criticized, both by those who consider themselves MAHA loyalists and those who adhere to the corporate, traditional model of modern medicine.

“I believe vaccines save lives.” ~Casey Means, MD

Now you know what she says about vaccines.

She deserves to be away from healthcare near the United States in any capacity – as with the rest of her career since she left her residency. https://t.co/aa5fTIXdQu

– Dr Mollie James (@molsjames) February 25, 2026

The left-leaning Cato Institute considers this cabinet position a waste of taxpayer resources and believes Congress should eliminate it altogether.

The U.S. surgeon general has gone from an apolitical overseer of medical staff to a divisive activist who undermines public health. Successive administrations have transformed the Office of the Surgeon General into a highly political platform that opines on controversial nonpublic health issues, ranging from gun control and social media to labor and housing policy. Such drift undermines the effectiveness of the government’s legitimate public health activities.

The surgeon general oversees the 6,000-member Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, a noncombatant uniformed service that provides personnel to various federal agencies, including many non-public health roles. Deploying the Commissioned Corps takes longer than civilian alternatives, and many of its functions are redundant. A 2010 report from the Department of Health and Human Services estimates that hiring Corps officers costs 15 percent more than hiring civilians. Replacing Corps officers with equivalent civilian employees could save $1.3 billion annually.

Eliminating the surgeon general’s controversial policy advocacy would be a step toward restoring trust in public health officials. Congress should disband the Office of the Surgeon General and the Commissioned Corps, eliminate their non-public health activities, and reassign all legitimate public health activities to other agencies.

Some food for thought. The difference here is that the Trump administration has disrupted the concept of traditional government. So there’s no reason to believe that won’t happen with the surgeon general role.

The hearing, which lasted more than two hours, was generally peaceful. Means was composed, confident, sure of his facts and information, and thoughtful and deliberate in his responses. As my colleague Rusty Weiss documented, the fireworks came from a difficult exchange between Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), where Mullin told Sanders, “You’re part of the system. You’re part of the problem. You’ve been sitting here longer than I’ve been alive.”

It’s glorious to see because it speaks to some of what Cato’s white paper was about: that nothing has been solved in health care, so the role of the surgeon general has been used as a political tool and a ping-pong ball, rather than as an ally in helping Americans improve their health.

Mullin also said, “God forbid we change and try to fix a broken system. »

Senator/Dr. Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced Means and said, “We need the surgeon general, the nation’s doctor, to lead us to health,” to move America from “reactive care of the sick to proactive health care.”

Marshall alluded to past surgeons general who made a difference in public health and who communicated generationally so change could happen in families as well as individuals.

MARSHALL: And that’s what I think Dr. Means can be. I think she might move the needle. We are indeed facing a chronic epidemic, no one can deny it. And as I’ve said before, we need a general surgeon who is more than an educator: we need a coach, we need a communicator, we need a cheerleader to fight these chronic diseases, and I believe Dr. Casey Means is the right person for the job.

The chairman, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), also a physician, spoke about the means on vaccines. Means was consistent in talking about informed consent and that the benefits and risks of medications be clearly stated by medical staff.

WATCH:

Casey Means, candidate for surgeon general, says she will be a proponent of informed consent for vaccines.

“I think it’s very important as a physician to restore trust in public health.”

“And to ensure that patients are encouraged to obtain informed consent with their doctor before… pic.twitter.com/IXEQV0zxkG

– Children’s Health Advocacy (@ChildrensHD) February 25, 2026

Learn more: Bernie Sanders Is Fired During Fiery Hearing: ‘You’ve Been Sitting Here Longer Than I’ve Been Alive!’

President Trump Fully Supports Surgeon General Nominee Dr. Casey Means

The hearing focused primarily on the actual policy and implementation of the surgeon general role, because, as Cato’s interview mentioned, the role has become an “all things to all people” position dependent on the political leanings of the administration under which one serves.

Democratic senators were obsessed with HHS Secretary Kennedy’s position on vaccines and whether Means would oppose them, and a good majority of senators on both sides insisted that, as surgeon general, Means should advocate or encourage certain medical or societal procedures or aspects, whether vaccines or smartphone use among minors.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) were obsessed with Means’ entrepreneurial ventures and endorsements, attempting to portray Means as someone who would not be trusted by the public because of his alternative medical leadership and online businesses. Murphy practically mocked her over Means’ large Instagram following and accused her of conflicts of interest. Means rebuffed them all, but he did so respectfully.

A handful of Republican senators (Mullin, Marshall, Cassidy and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama) actually asked questions about how Means would coordinate with other government health agencies, or how Means saw herself filling the role of surgeon general and what she planned to bring to the table.

Senator Andy Kim (D-N.J.) attempted to expose Means’ inactive medical license. Kim alleged that she may not be capable of leading the Commission Corps, which must have current licensure, and that this lack of active licensure made her less credible in the eyes of the American people.

Means wasn’t combative in any way, but she pushed back against Kim’s veiled insult. The means interrupted him,

Senator Kim, I am a doctor. I graduated from Stanford University School of Medicine. I have a medical license.

My professional background is a particularity, it is not a bug. I have a professional history that has merged entrepreneurship, public health advocacy, faculty, course leadership at Stanford University, in addition to being a medical journal editor and biology researcher. And in these complex times for American health care, this type of multidisciplinary history is going to be extremely valuable to the American people.

Means attempted to further explain her extensive practitioner and surgical experience as well as her vision for the Commission Corps.

I really look forward to working with the Commission body. This is an incredible group of 5,000 uniformed officers who dedicate their lives to working with the American people…

Kim tried to silence her, saying her lack of active licensure was a concern and needed to be addressed, then quickly gave in her time. Chairman Cassidy allowed Means to finish his response.

This incredible group of officers has historically been deployed for public health emergencies like natural disasters and infectious diseases, and I believe there is a huge opportunity to work with these members who want to tackle the chronic disease epidemic, which has not traditionally been part of their role. And I think bringing that perspective and a demonstrated history of work in this area will be a really positive development for the Commission Corps.

Senator Marshall asked how Means saw himself filling the role of surgeon general. Means was direct, detailed and eloquent in her response.

My dream for this position is first and foremost to help push, to inspire our healthcare systems to focus on the root causes and why we get sick, towards a real healthcare system and not just a reactive healthcare system. Which, of course, will also reduce costs monumentally and ease the burden on American taxpayers and doctors.

I want to see affordable, accessible, real, nutritious food for all Americans because we know that nutrition and diet is one of the key and most important factors in chronic disease or health, and we’re not eating real food, we’re currently eating 70 percent ultra-processed foods.

And I would say, finally, one of my main passions is understanding how the cumulative burden of exposures that we have in our environment through food, water, air, soil, the products that we put in and on our bodies, how those affect our health. We know that these diseases are increasing rapidly, and of course the genetics haven’t changed over the last 20, 30, 40, 50 years: it’s environmental exposures that are making us sick, and we haven’t prioritized studying them. And the NIH and the MAHA movement are focused on this issue. I think this will quickly accelerate the understanding of why we are sick and how to get better.

Means echoed the words of his opening statement: “Nothing is more urgent than restoring wholeness to Americans, physically, mentally and socially.”

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