White House withdraws Dr. Janette Nesheiwat’s surgeon general nomination, picks Dr. Casey Means instead

The White House has withdrawn President Trump’s nomination of Dr. Janette Nesheiwat for U.S. surgeon general, and Mr. Trump announced a new pick on social media Wednesday.

Nesheiwat’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee had been scheduled for Thursday. The office of Sen. Bernie Sanders, the ranking Democrat on the committee, confirmed earlier Wednesday that her nomination was being withdrawn.

Mr. Trump posted that he intended to nominate Dr. Casey Means to be surgeon general, touting her “MAHA,” or Make America Healthy Again, credentials.  Means is close to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and was favored among Kennedy’s allies to be picked over Neshiewat. 

Neshiewat’s withdrawal follows questions about how she has portrayed her education and credentials on social media and in past media appearances. 

In one example, Nesheiwat’s public profile on Linkedin listed an M.D. degree from the University of Arkansas, when she actually received her medical degree from American University of the Caribbean in St. Maarten. 

The University of Arkansas verified that Nesheiwat completed her residency there, but was not granted a degree.

Questions about her resume were first brought to light by the independent journalist Anthony Clark on Substack. 

On Sunday, conservative activist Laura Loomer posted to X that she opposed Neshewiat’s confirmation because of her support for COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic. The news of her withdrawal was first reported by Bloomberg News. 

CBS News has reached out to The White House and to Nesheiwat and has not received a response. 

Nesheiwat previously served as a medical contributor for Fox News. Her brother-in-law is Mike Waltz, who was recently removed as President Trump’s national security adviser and has been nominated as ambassador to the United Nations.