November 23, 2024 – Presidential Transition News

President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday his picks for critical remaining public health roles in his incoming administration.

The announced elections come as some in the public health world have already expressed concern over the president-elect’s intention to elevate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist, to the nation’s top health post as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Services. Trump’s pick, revealed during a flurry of cabinet and staff announcements Friday night, paints a fuller picture of what the health agency would look like under Kennedy if confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

US Surgeon General: Also known as the “nation’s physician,” the surgeon general is a doctor who focuses on educating and advising Americans on how to improve their health.

Trump chose Dr. Janette Nesheiwat for the post. Nesheiwat is a family practitioner and Fox News medical contributor who is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine. She attended medical school at the American University of the Caribbean in St. Maarten, according to her medical profile in New York, and did postgraduate work at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

FDA Commissioner: The US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner oversees the FDA, which is responsible for the safety, effectiveness, and security of drugs, biological products, medical devices, foods, and cosmetics. Vaccine approval or approval falls under the purview of the FDA. The commissioner is traditionally a doctor.

Trump pressed Dr. Marty Makary for the position. Makary is a surgeon and researcher at Johns Hopkins University. Makary, like Nesheiwat, has Fox News ties. In one opinion piece published on Fox News when the pandemic was at its peak in 2021, Makary claimed that Covid-19 had revealed that the FDA was a “broken” administration “that is mired in politics and bureaucracy.”

CDC Director: The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention leads the nation’s leading public health agency dealing with disease prevention and control and environmental health. Among his or her most prominent duties is making final recommendations on vaccinations and immunization schedules.

Trump chose Dr. Dave Weldona former congressman from Florida, for this post. Weldon earned a medical degree from SUNY-Buffalo on an Army scholarship and did postgraduate training in internal medicine at Letterman Army Medical Center. He served six years on active duty and eight in the Army Reserve, according to a biography on his U.S. Senate campaign website.

“As a physician, Dr. Weldon became involved in many health policy issues, including efforts to ban human cloning and vaccine safety,” he said. campaign website notes. “He helped lead the effort to remove toxic mercury containing preservatives from childhood vaccines.”

Read more about how Trump rounded up key health posts here.