Dr. Casey Means, President Donald Trump’s surgeon basic nominee, is in labor and her affirmation listening to, scheduled for Thursday morning at 11 a.m. ET, has been postponed, in response to two individuals acquainted and a HELP Committee spokesperson.
Means was anticipated to face stiff questioning from Democrats on the Senate’s well being committee about her ties to a wellness firm she co-founded and her promotion of dietary supplements on-line and on podcasts, in response to individuals acquainted with their method and a letter addressed to Means by a Democrat on the committee.
Means, a well being entrepreneur who in 2018 left her residency program in Oregon simply months earlier than graduating as a result of she was “disillusioned with the apply and incentives of surgical care,” promised in ethics filings to resign from the corporate, Ranges Well being, Inc., and to cease selling wellness merchandise whereas serving as surgeon basic.
However Democrats on the Senate Committee on Well being, Schooling, Labor and Pensions (HELP), are more likely to make these sources of revenue a spotlight of at her anticipated listening to.
In a letter addressed to Means and first obtained by ABC Information, Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wrote, “Even after your divestiture, your current monetary ties to varied wellness firms could fairly lead the general public to query whether or not you’re distorting well being recommendation from the Workplace of the Surgeon Normal to profit your former purchasers.”
“If Means refuses to recuse herself from authorities choices that might assist her former purchasers, how can we make certain that as Surgeon Normal she is going to put People’ well being above particular pursuits?” Warren wrote in an announcement to ABC Information.
Dr. Casey Means, a wellness influencer, left, and journalist Megyn Kelly attend a affirmation listening to for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the Secretary of Well being and Human Providers publish, on the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 29, 2025.
Ben Curtis/AP
Warren doesn’t sit on the HELP Committee and won’t attend Thursday’s listening to.
Kim, a freshman senator who sits on the committee, mentioned in an announcement that People “deserve” to know the nation’s high physician has their well being and wellness in thoughts first, not private monetary revenue.
“I am apprehensive about that type of individual on the subject of making choices and speaking to the American individuals about how greatest to have the ability to inform the American individuals learn how to keep wholesome,” Kim instructed ABC Information earlier than leaving the Capitol on Wednesday.
Means reacted defensively to questions on her potential conflicts of curiosity at a gathering on Monday with staffers of Democratic HELP Committee members, a number of sources with information of the assembly instructed ABC Information.
At one level, in response to three sources, Means introduced up former President Joe Biden’s surgeon basic, Vivek Murthy, noting the a whole bunch of hundreds of {dollars} he’d made throughout the pandemic as a marketing consultant to Carnival Cruise Line earlier than being nominated for the function in 2021.
Means, in response to the individuals acquainted with the alternate, appeared pissed off with what she noticed as Democrats’ unwillingness to problem Murthy in 2021 with the identical zeal with which staffers in Monday’s assembly questioned her personal monetary conflicts.
No members of the HELP Committee, Democratic or Republican, introduced up Murthy’s coronavirus-related consulting at his 2021 affirmation listening to, in response to a publicly out there transcript.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., instructed ABC Information Wednesday that her workers had instructed her Means had an “unwillingness to be attentive to workers questions” on the Monday assembly.
An individual acquainted with Baldwin’s pondering later instructed ABC Information that the senator was “deeply involved that Casey Means will prioritize her politics, President Trump’s needs, and her personal monetary pursuits over People’ well being and the consensus of the scientific neighborhood.”
Emily Hilliard, a Dept. of Well being and Human Providers spokeswoman, disputed the characterization of Monday’s assembly between Means and Democratic staffers.
“Dr. Means met with committee workers in good religion, whereas 40 weeks pregnant, and responded absolutely and professionally to all questions. Any suggestion that she was ‘defensive’ or ‘unwilling to reply’ is inaccurate and mischaracterizes the dialogue,” Hilliard mentioned in an announcement to ABC Information.
Means “continues to interact brazenly with Senators from each events as a part of the affirmation course of,” she added, saying Means “is concentrated on getting ready for her affirmation listening to and on advancing the administration’s public well being priorities, not political theater.”
In the meantime, Sen. Invoice Cassidy, R-La., a doctor and the chair of the HELP Committee, mentioned he’s anticipating a productive listening to Thursday.
“[Senator Cassidy] appears to be like ahead to discussing with Dr. Means how she is going to accomplish President Trump’s mission of delivering radical transparency and restoring belief in our well being establishments,” a Cassidy spokesperson instructed ABC Information on Wednesday.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., applauded Means’ medical information. “I believe that she’ll give some nice recommendation — that is what she does, give recommendation to the president,” Tuberville instructed ABC Information.
“We have got a variety of issues with our meals and our vaccines and every thing on the market when it comes to our well being care goes to hell in a hand basket, and [we’re] simply searching for some steering from someone that is received a bit of frequent sense. It would come from a unique perspective,” Tuberville mentioned.
A number of Democrats who spoke to ABC Information shared considerations about Means, however Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., joined with Tuberville in commending Means. He mentioned he had a optimistic assembly with Means earlier this week.
“We had an excellent dialogue,” Hickenlooper instructed ABC Information, including, “She’s an attention-grabbing individual with an attention-grabbing background. I look ahead to listening to what she says.”
