Latest news with #TrumpAppointments
The Guardian
16-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Forget the DEI hires – meet Trump's latest WTF hire
The US health secretary doesn't think you should really listen to him when it comes to health issues. During an appearance before House and Senate committees this week, Robert F Kennedy Jr, famous for his unconventional views about medicine and his revelation that a parasite ate part of his brain, seemed to think it was strange that lawmakers were asking him about vaccines. 'What I would say is my opinions about vaccines are irrelevant,' Kennedy said when pressed on whether he would vaccinate his child for measles. 'I don't want to seem like I'm being evasive, but I don't think people should be taking advice, medical advice, from me.' The US health secretary repeated his refrain about not wanting to give advice a number of other times. I, on the other hand, am desperate to dole out a bit of advice. Namely: it would probably be a good idea if a few people who actually knew what they were talking about were brought into the US government. I know, I know. Look at me being a crazy idealist! Still, at the very least, it might be wise to at least ensure that the people who are in charge of health issues know a thing or two about medicine. Alas, judging by some of Donald Trump's latest appointments, it would seem that I am asking far too much. See, for example, Dr Casey Means, who was nominated for US surgeon general last week. Means has got 'Dr' in front of her name, which sounds promising, but she's more of an influencer than a practitioner. Though she trained as a surgeon at Stanford, she never completed her medical residency afterward. Why? She says it's because she was disillusioned with traditional medicine, but a former colleague told the Los Angeles Times that it was due to anxiety. Means also doesn't have an active medical license. In short: she wouldn't be able to get a job as a doctor at your local hospital but she's being considered for the role of 'the nation's doctor'. As for experience working in government? She doesn't have any of that, either. What Means does have, Trump announced in a recent social media post, are 'impeccable 'MAHA' credentials'. That's the 'Make America healthy again' movement: a movement that is preoccupied with some very valid issues (processed food, corruption in the health industry) but mired in conspiracist thinking. Means has been on TV a lot to talk about Maha obsessions such as removing fluoride from drinking water. She also makes money from dietary supplements that she promotes on social media and has co-authored a book with her brother that claims 'almost every chronic health symptom that Western medicine addresses is the result of our cells being beleaguered by how we've come to live'. Which, of course, isn't completely false but has been accused of being overly simplistic. Means's brother, by the way, is also a prominent adviser to Kennedy. So are all the Maha crowd rejoicing in the streets at the idea of Means becoming surgeon general? Not quite. Her nomination has actually sparked Maha infighting. Some Maha voices think Means is not extreme enough, particularly when it comes to the Covid shot. These people seem to want a surgeon general who declares Covid was a hoax and bans vaccines altogether. The far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, meanwhile, who seems to have become one of Trump's most influential albeit unofficial advisers, isn't happy with Means because she thinks she's unserious. Writing on Twitter/X, Loomer said Means 'PRAYS TO INANIMATE OBJECTS, COMMUNICATES WITH SPIRIT MEDIUMS, USES SHROOMS AS 'PLANT MEDICINE' AND TALKS TO TREES! SHE ALSO DOESN'T EVEN HAVE AN ACTIVE MEDICAL LICENSE.' Loomer isn't the only one a little worried about Means's enthusiasm for psychedelic drugs including magic mushrooms – which the prospective surgeon general once suggested in a newsletter helped her find a romantic partner. Psilocybin, a psychedelic compound found in certain mushrooms, is currently listed as a schedule I drug, defined as a substance 'with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse'. Means should probably be a little worried about what Loomer thinks, as Loomer may have played a part in ousting Trump's original pick for the position. That was Janette Nesheiwat, a former Fox News medical contributor and the sister-in-law of Mike Waltz, the former national security adviser. On X this month, Loomer called Nesheiwat 'a pro-Covid vaccine nepo appointee' who 'didn't go to medical school in the US'. (Nesheiwat has said that she got a degree from the University of Arkansas School of Medicine, but it would seem that she actually earned her medical degree from a school in Sint Maarten.) Will Loomer topple Means before her confirmation (which hasn't been scheduled yet) as well? I don't know but I can tell you that if she does, it's unlikely that her successor will be any more qualified. The Trump administration, as we all know, has been waging war on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). If you're a (non-Trump-loving) woman or a minority, it doesn't seem to matter how many qualifications you have, you're automatically considered a 'DEI hire' and looked upon with suspicion. Many prominent people in the Trump administration, meanwhile, seem to be WTF hires. They are there because they're white, Trumpy and often in the family of someone influential (or they have been on Fox News). Whether we get Means or not, you can be sure that whoever is confirmed as the nation's top doctor will be completely unqualified to treat the US's Trump-induced ailments. Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist
Washington Post
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Live updates: Trump appoints Ed Martin to new Justice roles, including pardon attorney
President Donald Trump has appointed Ed Martin, whom he replaced as interim U.S. attorney for D.C. on Thursday, to new roles within the Justice Department. Trump said he is moving Martin to serve as the new director of the department's 'Weaponization Working Group,' which Pam Bondi established on her first day as attorney general. Martin will also be associate deputy attorney general and pardon attorney. On Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is scheduled to brief reporters. She is likely to face questions about Trump's controversial pick to succeed Martin in the U.S. attorney's office, Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, whose misstatements about the 2020 election were cited in two defamation lawsuits against the network. Trump, meanwhile, plans to sign more executive orders Friday. As Republicans work to pass their catchall legislation that could include cuts to Medicaid, Democrats are preparing to use the vote as a cudgel against vulnerable GOP members in midterms next year. That is one of the takeaways from a piece The Washington Post published Friday, which examines how Republicans, aware of the political peril of cutting a program like Medicaid, have curbed their plans, while Democrats see even the flirtation with Medicaid cuts as a salient campaign attack in 2026. President Donald Trump said he's appointing Ed Martin, whom he replaced as interim U.S. attorney for D.C. earlier Thursday, to three new roles within the Justice Department. The president said he's moving Martin to serve as the new director of the department's 'Weaponization Working Group,' which Pam Bondi established on her first day as attorney general. He will also be appointed associate deputy attorney general and pardon attorney. President Donald Trump on Thursday fired Carla Hayden as librarian of Congress — the first woman and first African American to hold the position. She was informed of the decision in a terse, two-sentence email. Hayden was appointed in 2016 by President Barack Obama and her renewable 10-year term was set to expire next year. Hayden was also the first librarian by profession to be appointed to the job in decades. (Typically, historians and scholars have led the Library of Congress.) On no issue has the clash between the Trump administration and the courts been as intense and consequential as it has been on deportations. The administration has repeatedly flouted and possibly defied court orders. The resolutions in these cases will say a lot about how much the courts can constrain a president who is clearly trying to wield an extraordinary amount of power — and whether the United States could drift into a constitutional crisis.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump says he is naming Fox News host and former judge Jeanine Pirro as top federal prosecutor in DC
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is naming Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, a former county prosecutor and elected judge, to be the top federal prosecutor for the nation's capital after abandoning his first pick for the job. Pirro, who joined Fox News in 2006, co-hosts the network's show 'The Five' on weekday evenings. She was elected as a judge in New York's Westchester County Court in 1990 before serving three terms as the county's elected district attorney. Trump tapped Pirro to at least temporarily lead the nation's largest U.S. Attorney's office after pulling his nomination of conservative activist Ed Martin Jr. for the position. Trump withdrew Martin from consideration after a key Republican senator said he could not support Martin for the job due to his defense of rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. 'He's a terrific person, and he wasn't getting the support from people that I thought,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. He later added: 'But we have somebody else that will be great.' Pirro is the latest in a string of Trump appointments coming from Fox News — a list that includes Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who co-hosted 'Fox & Friends Weekend.' Martin has served as acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia since Trump's first week in office. But his hopes of keeping the job faded amid questions about his qualifications and background. Martin had never served as a prosecutor or tried a case before taking office in January. Michael Kunzelman, The Associated Press
Associated Press
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Trump says he is naming Fox News host and former judge Jeanine Pirro as top federal prosecutor in DC
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is naming Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, a former county prosecutor and elected judge, to be the top federal prosecutor for the nation's capital after abandoning his first pick for the job. Pirro, who joined Fox News in 2006, co-hosts the network's show 'The Five' on weekday evenings. She was elected as a judge in New York's Westchester County Court in 1990 before serving three terms as the county's elected district attorney. Trump tapped Pirro to at least temporarily lead the nation's largest U.S. Attorney's office after pulling his nomination of conservative activist Ed Martin Jr. for the position. Trump withdrew Martin from consideration after a key Republican senator said he could not support Martin for the job due to his defense of rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. 'He's a terrific person, and he wasn't getting the support from people that I thought,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. He later added: 'But we have somebody else that will be great.' Pirro is the latest in a string of Trump appointments coming from Fox News — a list that includes Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who co-hosted 'Fox & Friends Weekend.' Martin has served as acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia since Trump's first week in office. But his hopes of keeping the job faded amid questions about his qualifications and background. Martin had never served as a prosecutor or tried a case before taking office in January.
Washington Post
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Trump appoints former ‘Real Housewives' star to Holocaust Museum board
President Donald Trump named five new members to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council on Monday night, including a former 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' television star whose stepson was charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The appointments, and eight others Trump made last week, will replace members he fired April 29, all of whom had been named by President Joe Biden.
