It was about a year ago when Donald Trump abandoned his first choice to serve as surgeon general, Fox News contributor Janette Nesheiwat, pulling her nomination without explanation. The president’s second choice, a wellness influencer named Casey Means, who enjoyed close ties to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., was supposed to fare better.
At least, that was the idea.
Almost immediately, it became clear that Means was wildly unqualified for the post. She was a doctor, but she had no experience in public health administration, and she supplemented her income as a wellness influencer by selling dietary supplements and teas.
What’s more, one day after nominating her, the president appeared to take steps to distance himself from his own choice, telling reporters in reference to Means, “I don’t know her.”
In the months that followed, Means’ nomination struggled to gain support, especially after a difficult confirmation hearing in February, and in late March, when a reporter asked the president whether he was considering withdrawing his nominee and picking someone else. He didn’t exactly push back.
“Well, we’re looking at a lot of different things,” Trump replied.
A month later, in the face of bipartisan opposition, the White House threw in the towel. The Associated Press reported:
President Donald Trump said Thursday he’s nominating former Fox News Channel contributor and radiologist Dr. Nicole Saphier for surgeon general after Dr. Casey Means’ path forward stalled in the Senate over questions about her experience and her stance on vaccines.
I’ll take a closer look at Saphier and her unfortunate record in a separate post, but for now, it’s worth appreciating an underappreciated dynamic: The White House is so bad at choosing nominees, even Senate Republicans won’t confirm some of them.
The list of Trump’s failed nominees has quietly become rather long. It includes a variety of notable figures, tapped for positions large and small, including Matt Gaetz, Dave Weldon, Ed Martin, Chad Chronister, Kathleen Sgamma, E.J. Antoni, Paul Ingrassia, Jeremy Carl, Donald Korb, Scott Socha, Sean Plankey, Amer Ghalib and Bryce McFerran, among others.
By all appearances, the White House would much prefer the Republican-led Senate simply serve as a rubber stamp for the president’s choices, regardless of merit or qualifications, and looking at Trump’s Cabinet, it’s clear that GOP senators have been willing to go along with too many nominees who had no business taking office.
But as Means exits the stage, the president and his team have received a fresh reminder that there are some depths to which even Senate Republicans don’t want to sink.
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