President Trump announced Thursday he was pulling the nomination of Casey Means for surgeon general, attacking Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) for blocking the pick from going through.
In place of Means, Trump announced he would nominate Fox News contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier for surgeon general — his third choice for the prestigious position after neither of the previous two even advanced to Senate votes.
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“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, while at the same time working with men and women on all other forms of cancer diagnoses and treatments,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “She is also an INCREDIBLE COMMUNICATOR, who makes complicated health issues more easily understood by all Americans.
“Dr. Nicole Saphier will do great things for our Country, and help, ‘MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN.’ Congratulations Nicole, our Country has long been waiting for you!”
Earlier, Trump said Cassidy — chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee — “has stood in the way” of Means’ nomination and called on Louisiana voters to boot Cassidy out of office in next month’s Republican primary, calling the lawmaker “a very disloyal person whose ‘TRUMP’ Endorsement got him elected, but later voted to impeach ‘President Trump’ on what has now proven to be a total Hoax and Scam.”
The president added that “despite Senator Cassidy’s intransigence and political games, Casey will continue to fight for MAHA on the many important Health issues facing our Country, such as the rising childhood disease epidemic, increased autism rates, poor nutrition, over-medicalization, and researching the root causes of infertility, and many other difficult medical problems.”
Calley Means, Casey’s brother and a health adviser to the Trump administration, also blamed Cassidy in a social media post, claiming his “constant delay tactics” sank the nomination.
The Louisiana Republican did not immediately respond to the attacks.
Means, 38, was grilled by the Senate HELP Committee in February about her experience, her stance on vaccines, and even her experiences with psychedelic mushrooms.
At one point, Cassidy asked Means if she affirmed overwhelming evidence that vaccines have no link to cases of autism.
“I do accept that evidence,” she answered. “I also think that science is never settled, and I think that the effort to look at comprehensive, cumulative exposures of our exposure into what is causing autism is important, and I look forward to seeing those results.”
Means’ nomination had languished since then, even as activists from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement orchestrated a push to support her bid by surging phone calls to Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) — both of whom had expressed issues with the pick.
Before Means, Trump had tapped Dr. Janette Nesheiwat to be US surgeon general, before yanking her nomination May 7, 2025, one day before she was scheduled to appear for confirmation hearings.
“Dr. Nicole Saphier is a well-qualified physician who will be a fantastic Surgeon General and strong voice for President Trump’s agenda to Make America Healthy Again,” Nesheiwat, herself a former Fox News medical contributor who is now treating veterans at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, told The Post in a statement.
Saphier is a radiologist and director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth, according to her profile on the New York-based institution’s website. She has a doctor of medicine degree from Ross University School of Medicine in Barbados along with fellowships at the Mayo Clinic.
With Post wires
