Donald Trump announced the shocking addition of talk-show personality Dr. Mehmet Oz to his new administration on Tuesday, handing him the reins to overhaul the country’s Medicaid and Medicare programs.
“I am very pleased to nominate Dr. Mehmet Oz to serve as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator,” Trump said in a statement.
“America is facing a Healthcare Crisis, and there may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again.”
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Trump said the failed Pennsylvania Senate candidate “will work closely” with Health and Human Services Secretary pick Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “to take on the illness industrial complex, and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake.”
“Dr. Oz will be a leader in incentivizing Disease Prevention, so we get the best results in the World for every dollar we spend on Healthcare in our Great Country,” Trump continued.
“He will also cut waste and fraud within our Country’s most expensive Government Agency, which is a third of our Nation’s Healthcare spend, and a quarter of our entire National Budget.”
Oz, 64, became a MAGA favorite during his Senate race in 2022. He’s already a household name after years on television—first as a health expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show in the 1990s and then on his own talk show that aired on ABC from 2009 until 2022.
The University of Pennsylvania graduate was a heart surgeon before his career in TV. Now, he’s stepping back into his first industry to oversee key services that provide healthcare to millions of America.
Kennedy’s views on public health issues—like his opposition to many vaccines—is well documented. However, he’s not shared publicly his thoughts on Medicare and other payment policies, potentially giving Oz wide latitude within his new role.
Oz would be taking over from Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, who’s been the agency’s administrator since 2021. Prior to her, the last permanent administrator was the Trump appointee Seema Verma.
Verma worked to repeal the Affordable Care Act, reduce Medicaid benefits, and added restrictions on Medicaid. She also was at the center of a pair of scandals.
The first came after Verma filed a $47,000 claim over luggage she said was stolen from her rental car in 2019. That claim, which was partially reimbursed, included an Ivanka Trump-brand pendant worth $5,900, $2,000 worth of clothes, $325 for moisturizer, and $349 for noise-canceling headphones.
The second involved her feud with Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who she threatened with a sex discrimination lawsuit after they feuded over who should be the deputy chief of staff at the CMS.
