Means’ nomination to be the nation’s surgeon general has been stalled for weeks after a confirmation hearing left lawmakers with continued questions about her background and her approach to vaccines, Senate aides and officials said.
The delay deepened concerns among senators of both major parties, according to the Associated Press, after Means faced probing questions on vaccines and other health topics in what lawmakers described as a tense hearing. Supporters and the White House said the process remains active, but committee momentum appeared to have stalled rather than moved quickly toward a full Senate vote.
Means, a 38-year-old physician who became disillusioned with traditional medicine and did not finish a surgical residency program, has also drawn scrutiny for her lack of experience and potential conflicts, AP reported. The report said another sticking point has been her close alignment with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose efforts to reduce vaccine recommendations have been criticized by lawmakers and medical groups.
To advance to a Senate floor vote, Means likely needs support from Republicans on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, AP reported. After last month’s hearing, two committee Republicans—Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine—told reporters they still had hesitations, according to the report.
Murkowski told reporters Tuesday that “I’m just in the same spot” regarding the concerns raised during the hearing. AP reported that Collins and Republican committee chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician from Louisiana who interrogated Means on vaccines during the session, did not respond to multiple inquiries about the delay.
The White House disputed that the nomination is in jeopardy, with spokesman Kush Desai telling reporters the administration has been engaged in discussions aimed at moving the nomination forward. In a statement, Desai said the Trump administration has been having “productive conversations with the Senate” and added that Means’ “elite academic credentials, research background and advocacy on America’s chronic disease epidemic will make her a critical asset for President Trump’s push to Make America Healthy Again.”
Kennedy’s spokesman Andrew Nixon reinforced the administration’s position, AP reported, praising Means’ message about lifestyle choices and “sick care.” Nixon also tied the nomination to Kennedy’s broader health agenda, the report said.
During the confirmation hearing, AP reported, Murkowski and Cassidy pressed Means about her past doubts regarding the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, a recommendation that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped recommending for all children late last year before a federal judge temporarily blocked the change. Means told senators that the hepatitis B vaccine remains important and lifesaving, but she said parents should make decisions with their doctors.
Cassidy also asked whether Means would advise Americans to vaccinate against the flu and measles amid outbreaks across the country, AP reported. The report said Means did not commit to urging vaccination, instead emphasizing informed consent.
AP reported that Collins asked Means about her past advocacy for the therapeutic use of psychedelic mushrooms. Means, who described a positive experience with the drugs in the past, told senators she would not recommend psychedelics for the American public.
Supporters associated with the MAHA movement pressed harder after the hearing, AP reported, when it appeared Murkowski and Collins were undecided. Tony Lyons, head of the Kennedy-aligned group MAHA Action, told supporters earlier in March to “Please call both of them. Call them time after time. Get your friends to call them.”
Other critics remained firm. AP reported that Dr. Jerome Adams, Trump’s first-term surgeon general, said Means is unqualified because she lacks an active medical license, and he suggested Republicans in Congress and in the Trump administration disapprove of the pick but see it as Kennedy’s choice. While surgeon generals are not required by law to have an active medical license, they are required to be part of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, which says its members should have up-to-date licenses, AP reported.
Means said during the hearing that she had voluntarily made her Oregon medical license inactive and that Adm. Brian Christine, who runs the Commissioned Corps, had testified that she was eligible to serve, AP reported.
Even if Means advanced out of committee, AP reported that she could still face difficulty winning confirmation in the full Senate. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican not seeking re-election, told AP he was leaning against voting for Means, saying her resume “puts me on alert” and that she “didn’t… do herself any favors in the hearing.”
AP also reported that Means’ confirmation delay has lasted nearly 300 days since her nomination in May, which the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service said is longer than the average time between nomination and confirmation for Trump’s nominees during his second term. Chris Piper, manager of public policy and stakeholder engagement at the Partnership for Public Service, said a monthlong delay following a hearing was atypical at this level.
One factor cited by AP was the birth of Means’ son in October, on the day of her initially scheduled confirmation hearing. Still, Piper said the time since the rescheduled hearing was unusual and that candidates are often voted out of committee within a week of a hearing, according to AP.