Casey Means, Trump's nominee to be U.S. surgeon general, is scheduled to appear before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) on Feb. 25.
She was originally scheduled to appear virtually before the HELP Committee in October, but this was delayed after she went into labor. Means will appear before the committee in-person next week.
Means has close ties to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" agenda, being the sister of White House senior adviser Calley Means.
A Stanford Medical School graduate, Means left the surgeon track and did not complete her residency, something others in the public health space have held against her and a criticism Democrats on the committee are likely to pick up on during the hearing.
Jerome Adams, who served as surgeon general during Trump's first term, called for maintaining standards for the role after Means's nomination was announced.
"Physician requirements include a medical degree (e.g., MD or DO), a residency, and a valid medical license," Adams wrote at the time. "This is analogous to how an Army General must meet the minimum qualifications to serve in the military before being promoted to lead other troops who are held to those same standards."
Former and current supporters of the Trump administration also spoke out against Means as surgeon general. MAGA influencer Laura Loomer called her a "total crack pot" while Kennedy's former running mate Nicole Shanahan said there was something "very artificial and aggressive" about both Means siblings.
Means will also likely face questions about her business ties, being co-founder of Levels, a health technology company that focuses on tracking health information through devices like continuous glucose monitors. Kennedy has championed wearable health devices, calling them a "key to the MAHA agenda."
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