President Donald Trump is not slowing down ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The president recently called on the Republican-controlled Senate to get to work and confirm more of his nominees.

One of those nominees is Dr. Nicole Saphier, whom the president picked to serve as U.S. surgeon general after withdrawing the stalled nomination of Casey Means.

The move places a prominent physician and media figure at the center of the administration’s public health agenda.

“I am pleased to announce that I am nominating Dr. Nicole B. Saphier to be the next SURGEON GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

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Trump praised Saphier’s medical background and her work in cancer treatment and prevention. He highlighted her role guiding patients through diagnoses and promoting early detection.

“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,” Trump said.

Saphier is a radiologist who has served as director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth in New Jersey.

She is also a regular contributor on Fox News and Fox Business, where she has commented on a range of public health issues.

( @realDonaldTrump – Truth Social Post )
( Donald J. Trump – Apr 30 2026, 12:43 PM ET )

I am pleased to announce that I am nominating Dr. Nicole B. Saphier to be the next SURGEON GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Nicole is a STAR physician who has spent her career guiding… pic.twitter.com/QYjklD701H

— Fan Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 TRUTH POSTS (@TruthTrumpPosts) April 30, 2026

Saphier now enters the confirmation process as the administration seeks to fill one of the nation’s most visible public health roles.

The surgeon general serves as the federal government’s leading spokesperson on public health and medical issues.

If confirmed, Saphier would take on a high-profile position responsible for addressing national health challenges and advising the public on medical issues.

The timeline for Senate consideration of her nomination has not yet been announced.

Separately, there are more than two dozen federal court vacancies.

Labor Secretary, FDA commissioner, and scores of other open positions do not have nominees, and a senior White House official said Trump is in no rush to fill them.

“Ultimately, we need to have the right people in those positions,” said the official, who was granted anonymity to describe internal thinking. “So if it’s acting for now, so be it. If [it] takes a little while to find that perfect person, then it takes a little while.”

That’s unsettling some Republican senators who are anxious to fill spots ahead of the midterms, a daunting task given the legislative calendar and host of competing GOP priorities.

“We’re running short on time,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), a member of the Senate HELP Committee, which oversees health, labor and other issues. “We’d love to get at least one or two of them and get it in the next tranche.”

As far as judges, Tuberville said he wants to see “as many as we can get” nominated, adding, “I don’t know why we don’t have more.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said he “absolutely” wants to see the president nominate more judges before the end of the year.

Texas has three court vacancies with zero nominees.

“And that’s one of his greatest legacies, both first term and second,” Cruz said of Trump.

Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) previously complained that the White House hasn’t nominated more judges.

More recently, though, he’s blaming his committee for not acting more quickly on the already pending nominees.

“Right now it’s hard for me to blame the White House when in the last three executive weeks, we were supposed to have meetings to vote judges out, we couldn’t have enough members present,” Grassley said in an interview.

A White House official said, “Trump plans to nominate well qualified individuals to fill these vacancies.”

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