Senate hearing for Trump’s surgeon general pick is postponed after she goes into labor

NEW YORK (AP) — A Senate hearing for President Donald Trump’s surgeon general pick, Dr. Casey Means, has been postponed because she went into labor, a spokesperson for the Senate health committee said Thursday.

The news came just hours before the 38-year-old Means, who has been pregnant with her first child, was set to appear virtually with the committee for her confirmation hearing. It was not immediately clear when the hearing would be rescheduled.

“Everyone’s happy for Dr. Means and her family,” said Emily Hilliard, deputy press secretary for the Health and Human Services Department. “This is one of the few times in life it’s easy to ask to move a Senate hearing.”

Means, a Stanford-educated physician who rose to popularity as a wellness influencer after becoming disillusioned with traditional medicine, was expected to share a vision for ending chronic disease by targeting its root causes, an idea that aligns with the Make America Healthy Again message of her close ally, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The author and entrepreneur was also expected to defend her credibility amid concerns surfaced about her qualifications and potential conflicts.

As the nation’s doctor, the surgeon general is a leader for Americans and health officials on public health issues. If confirmed, Means will represent an administration that has already transformed the public health landscape by calling for increased scrutiny of vaccines, the nation’s food supply, pesticides and prescription drugs.

Means has no government experience, and her license to practice as a physician is inactive. Though she went to medical school at Stanford University, she dropped out of her surgical residency program at Oregon Health and Science University in 2018. She later cited her belief that the health care system was broken and exploitative as the reason for her withdrawal.

Means then turned to alternative approaches to address what she has described as widespread metabolic dysfunction driven largely by poor nutrition and an overabundance of ultra-processed foods. She co-founded Levels, a nutrition, sleep and exercise-tracking app that can also give users insights from blood tests and continuous glucose monitors.