A surgeon general appointment could burst the Republican Party's bubble, according to an analyst suggesting Donald Trump may enrage many representatives.
Casey Means is the likely next surgeon general, with the White House reportedly telling the GOP to push through her nomination. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement regarding the potential appointment of Means to the post, with the Trump administration clearly backing the candidate.
Leavitt said, "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."
"The President stands by her and the Senate should move to quickly [confirm] Dr. Means as our next surgeon general without further delay."
But Mark Brewer, professor and chair of the department of political science at the University of Maine, believes the president is rushing through the appointment so he can continue his control over certain Republican Party reps, The Hill reported.
Brewer said of Casey, "She doesn’t have the appropriate qualifications. She doesn’t really have kind of any public health experience, per se. If she were to be installed as the surgeon general, I think it would send a message."
"And at least some senators are not interested, it appears, in the message that that would send." Brewer went on to suggest the appointment could come as a way of controlling three GOP reps Trump has, so far, struggled to reign in.
Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), the HELP Committee chair; Lisa Murkowski (Alaska); and Susan Collins (Maine) were singled out as "immune" to Trump's criticism.
Brewer explained, "He’s got less leverage over those three senators than maybe he would have over some other members of the Senate. He’s already kind of threatened Cassidy, right? And so, he’s already done what he can do there. Collins, he’s got to be careful with if he wants the Republicans to control the Senate."
"Murkowski has already proven that, you know, she’s got her own brand in Alaska, and that she isn’t necessarily reliant on even a party’s endorsement, right? I mean, she ran without that and won."