Former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams sharply criticized President Trump’s nominee, Dr. Casey Means, saying she does not meet the historical standards for the office and would be appointed as a "health-service worker" rather than as a physician. Means, a Stanford-trained former ENT who became a wellness influencer and proponent of functional medicine, was nominated in May 2025 but remains stalled in the Senate amid bipartisan concerns about her vaccine views and ties to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s movement. If confirmed, she would lead the roughly 6,000-member Public Health Commissioned Corps.
Ex-Surgeon General Adams: Trump’s Nominee Casey Means 'Wouldn’t Even Be a Doctor' in the Corps
Casey Means
Dr. Jerome Adams, who served as U.S. Surgeon General during Donald Trump’s first term, has publicly criticized President Trump’s selection of Dr. Casey Means for the same post in his second term, saying the nominee does not meet the office’s longstanding expectations.
Trump nominated Means in May 2025. A Stanford-trained physician and former ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon, Means has since stepped away from conventional practice, allowed her medical license to lapse and built a public profile as a wellness influencer. She advocates approaches commonly described as “functional medicine,” an approach embraced by figures including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his Make America Healthy Again movement.
Adams told The Washington Post that Means “falls short of the position’s historical standards and legal requirements.” He warned that, if confirmed, Means would be appointed not as a physician but in the classification of a "health-service worker," which, he argued, would undermine the credibility of the surgeon general’s office.
"The irony would be the nation’s doctor wouldn’t even be in the corps as a doctor," Adams said.
Means’s nomination remains stalled in the Senate nearly 11 months after it was submitted. Lawmakers from both parties have expressed concern about her public statements on vaccines and her skepticism toward mainstream medical institutions. The Washington Post reported that senators are also uneasy about the influence of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on vaccine policy and reluctant to confirm another of his allies.
If confirmed, Means would lead the Public Health Commissioned Corps, a uniformed service of roughly 6,000 government health workers. That role places the surgeon general as the head of the commissioned corps and its personnel, a position Adams and other critics say carries expectations of traditional clinical credentials and public-health expertise.
Means did not respond to The Post’s request for comment. In written responses to senators, she criticized recent surgeons general, asserting that under their tenures Americans’ health and life expectancy have declined. Meanwhile, Calley Means, a White House official and Casey Means’s brother, attacked Adams on X (formerly Twitter), calling him a "democratic activist" and disparaging his tenure.
This nomination has drawn unusually public criticism from a former occupant of the post and remains a contentious confirmation fight that raises broader questions about credentialing, public trust and the evolving role of the surgeon general.
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