Casey Means faces hearing as Trump’s pick for surgeon general
Dr. Casey Means, nominee to be surgeon general, testifies during her Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing in Dirksen building on Wednesday, February 25, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Wellness influencer and entrepreneur Dr. Casey Means is on track to face confirmation as the next surgeon general.
She faced questioning Wednesday in front of the Senate health committee. Here’s what to know:
Who is Casey Means?
Dr. Casey Means, 38, is a wellness influencer, author and entrepreneur who is President Donald Trump’s pick to be the next surgeon general. Her hearing with the Senate health committee was happening Wednesday.
Timeline:
She was nominated for the role last May. Her confirmation hearing was rescheduled from last October, when she went into labor the day she was set to appear.
Dig deeper:
Means earned her medical degree from Stanford University, but she dropped out of her residency program in Oregon in 2018, and her license to practice is inactive.
She has grown her public profile in part with a compelling origin story that seeks to explain why she left her residency and conventional medicine.
Meanwhile:
She co-founded Levels, a nutrition, sleep and exercise-tracking app that can also give users insights from blood tests and continuous glucose monitors.
Her brother, Calley Means, also works for the Trump administration as a senior adviser to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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Big picture view:
Means' message that dietary and lifestyle changes are needed to heal an ill and struggling nation align closely with that of her ally Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his "Make America Healthy Again" movement.
Means has argued that the medical system is incentivized not to look at the root causes of illness but instead to maintain profits by keeping patients sick and coming back for more prescription drugs and procedures.
What they're saying:
"Our nation is angry, exhausted, and hurting from preventable diseases," the 38-year-old said in Washington before the Senate health committee Wednesday. "If we’re addressing shared root causes, we’re going to be able to stop the whack-a-mole medicine that’s not working for us and that is so costly."
Surgeon general hearing
Big picture view:
As the nation’s doctor, the surgeon general is a leader for Americans and health officials on public health issues. If confirmed, Means would be empowered to issue advisories that warn of public health threats.
The other side:
Senators on Wednesday asked Means about several specific incidents in which they said she didn’t disclose a financial relationship while promoting a product in her influencer capacity.
Financial disclosures show she made hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting health and wellness products, including specialty basil seed supplements, teas and elixirs, probiotic products and a prepared meal delivery service.
For context:
Influencers who endorse or promote products in exchange for payment or something else of value are required by the Federal Trade Commission to make a clear and conspicuous disclosure of any business, family or personal relationship.
While Means did provide disclosures about newsletter sponsors, the Associated Press found in other cases Means did not always tell her audience when she had a connection to the companies she promoted.
Dig deeper:
In an ethics filing, Means said that if she is confirmed for the post by the full Senate, she will resign from her position with Levels and forfeit or divest stock options and stock in the company. She also pledged to stop working for Rupa, a specialty lab work company for which she developed an online course. While she may continue receiving royalty payments from her book "Good Energy," she will not promote it, the filing said.
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On vaccines
Big picture view:
Means has largely steered clear of Kennedy’s debunked views on vaccines, senators from both parties sought clear answers Wednesday from her on how she would approach the issue if confirmed.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican who chairs the Senate health committee, asked Means whether she would encourage Americans to vaccinate against flu and measles amid outbreaks across the U.S. She declined to make such a commitment, instead emphasizing the importance of informed consent between patients and their personal physicians.
Cassidy also asked Means whether she believes that vaccines may contribute to autism, a claim that Kennedy has embraced despite overwhelming research to the contrary.
What they're saying:
""I do accept that evidence," she said. "I also think that science is never settled." She said she looked forward to seeing the results of the federal health department's effort to study environmental contributors to the disorder.
The Source: Information in this article was taken from a senate hearing on Feb. 25, 2025, as reported on by the Associated Press. Background information was taken from The Associated Press. This story was reported from Detroit.