Trump’s Surgeon General Pick Dr. Janette Nesheiwat Gains Bipartisan Support as 'Fierce' MAHA Advocate

President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, is making serious waves on Capitol Hill as her confirmation hearing approaches. Senators from both sides of the aisle are calling her a "fierce" champion for the "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) movement—gotta love a government slogan with a gym membership vibe.

Insiders say Nesheiwat has been hustling through productive meetings with key players on the Senate HELP Committee and beyond. Republican and Democrat staffers alike have engaged in discussions covering everything from chronic disease and opioids to the role of the government in tackling health crises, food deserts, and mental health. Even vaccine education and health provider shortages made the agenda. The consensus: meetings have been, in their words, "positive, productive conversations." (Translation: nobody stormed out, and there may have even been a handshake or two.)

Nesheiwat’s Capitol Hill marathon included sit-downs with every Republican senator on the HELP Committee except Sen. Josh Hawley—who’s apparently saving the best for last. Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama is also lining up a meeting in early May, despite not being on the committee. Support appears strong from Republicans like Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who praised Nesheiwat’s commitment to transparency and her MAHA credentials.

With a double board certification in family medicine and urgent care, Nesheiwat brings frontline experience from the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City and leadership through crises like opioid surges, flu epidemics, and even the monkeypox outbreak. Not to mention, she broke ground as the first female medical director for CityMD in Manhattan, one of the country’s largest urgent care systems. That’s a lot of medical chaos managed.

Trump himself has lauded Nesheiwat as a "fierce advocate and strong communicator" who’s saved thousands of lives and helped steer the country through Operation Warp Speed—a program he claims saved hundreds of millions. The president is betting on Nesheiwat to play a pivotal role in, you guessed it, "MAKING AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN!"

Senate HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy was impressed, noting Nesheiwat’s grasp of health issues—right down to patient counseling. Meanwhile, Republicans are framing her as the embodiment of the administration’s health vision, with Sen. Jim Banks declaring, "American health is no longer taking a back seat."

Nesheiwat’s medical pedigree is global, with training in the Caribbean, clinical rotations at Johns Hopkins and major hospitals in the U.S. and U.K., and a residency in Arkansas where she became chief resident. She’s been board certified in family medicine since 2009 and urgent care medicine since 2020. Her confirmation hearing is set for May 8 at 10:00 a.m., where she’ll field questions from the Senate HELP Committee before an official vote.