White House backs Casey Means for surgeon general after Trump remarks

The White House is maintaining its support for Casey Means to be the next U.S. surgeon general one day after President Trump said he was open to withdrawing her nomination.

Trump said over the weekend that he did not know how Means, the sister of White House senior adviser Calley Means, was doing in the nomination process.

When asked if he was considering withdrawing her nomination, Trump told reporters, “You know, something like that would be possible. We certainly have a lot of — we have a lot of great candidates.”

By Monday evening, however, the White House reaffirmed its choice in Casey Means.

“Dr. Casey Means has spent her entire career as an entrepreneur, bestselling author, and researcher bringing attention to America’s chronic disease epidemic and how our healthcare system is failing the American people,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement obtained by The Washington Post.

“The President stands by her, and the Senate should move to quickly [confirm] Dr. Means as our next surgeon general without further delay,” Leavitt added.

Means’s nomination is currently in limbo in the Senate, where it remains unclear if she has the necessary votes to be confirmed.

GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) have indicated they have reservations about her, and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Senate Health Committee, has not scheduled any votes on Means’s nomination.

When The Hill asked Murkowski about where she stood on Means in early March, she said she had outstanding questions for Means and had not been satisfied by the answers she got during the nominee’s confirmation hearing. Murkowski said she hadn’t asked for additional meetings with Means, though indicated she was open to it.