President Trump nominates Dr. Nicole Saphier as US surgeon general

President Donald Trump has nominated Dr. Nicole Saphier as the next U.S. surgeon general after the confirmation of his previous pick stalled.

Saphier is a breast radiologist who has served as a Fox News contributor since 2018. She is the director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center-Monmouth and an associate professor at Weill Cornell Medical College, specializing in breast and oncologic imaging.

"Nicole is a STAR physician who has spent her career guiding women facing breast cancer through their diagnosis and treatment while tirelessly advocating to increase early cancer detection and prevention, while at the same time working with men and women on all other forms of cancer diagnoses and treatments," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

"She is also an INCREDIBLE COMMUNICATOR, who makes complicated health issues more easily understood by all Americans," he added.

Trump's former nominee Dr. Casey Means faced opposition from the Senate over her lack of current medical license and vaccine views.

Means, a 38-year-old Stanford-educated physician did not complete her surgical residency program, shifting away from traditional medicine and becoming a wellness influencer. Her license also had become inactive as she pursued a career in functional medicine.

She is the sister of Calley Means, an entrepreneur who is a close adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. She and her brother have been outspoken about Kennedy's focus on conquering chronic diseases and have championed his "Make America Healthy Again" platform.

Means' nomination never made it to a full Senate vote as she was unable to get key Republicans in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to support her nomination.

Republican committee chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician from Louisiana, grilled Means over her lack of full-throated defense of vaccines during confirmation hearings.

Shortly before announcing his new pick for surgeon general, Trump lashed out at Cassidy saying he "stood in the way" of his nominee.

This story has been updated with new information.