Trump's Surgeon General Nominee Under Fire
Trump's Surgeon General nominee is being roasted amid what's being called "catastrophic" news for the administration. Meanwhile, the GOP Texas Senate primary has turned into "Biblical" infighting, and Trump is pushing for emergency powers related to election control.
The Surgeon General nominee, Dr. Casey Means, is a Stanford-educated physician who did not complete her surgical residency and does not hold an active medical license. A wellness influencer, Means is a close ally of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and has faced scrutiny for questioning the safety of the childhood vaccine schedule and hormonal birth control. During her Senate confirmation hearing, Means sidestepped direct questions about whether she would encourage parents to vaccinate their children against diseases like measles, stating it's a matter for parents to discuss with their pediatricians. Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona, who served under George W. Bush, called her nomination a "disgrace" due to her lack of significant public health or scalable leadership experience. The contentious nomination is Trump's second for the nation's top doctor. His initial pick, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a Fox News contributor, withdrew her nomination amid criticism from the right and reports of misleading medical credentials. Meanwhile, the Texas Republican Senate primary has devolved into a bitter contest between four-term incumbent John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The race has seen heavy spending, with Cornyn's campaign highlighting Paxton's 2023 impeachment by the state House over corruption charges and an affair that led his wife to seek a divorce on "biblical grounds". In a separate development, a draft executive order is being circulated by Trump allies that would declare a national emergency, citing foreign interference in elections. This declaration would be used to assert unprecedented presidential control over voting processes, including mail-in ballots and voting machines. Legal experts have widely condemned the proposed order as unconstitutional, noting that Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution assigns the power to regulate elections to state legislatures and Congress, not the president. The draft order reportedly cites the National Emergencies Act, though legal scholars argue it does not provide the authority to overhaul election administration.
