Senate committee advances Trump pick for surgeon general

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Wednesday voted 12-11 to advance Nicole Saphier’s nomination for U.S. surgeon general. The vote split along party lines. The committee placed her nomination on the Senate calendar, but the vote won’t come until after the midterm elections, as the Senate went into recess Wednesday.

Saphier is a New Jersey-based breast cancer radiologist. She has also written medical articles for Fox News and in 2020 published a book titled Make America Healthy Again, arguing that both government policies and Americans’ negligence contributed to poor national health. If the Senate confirms her, she will lead the government’s public health communications.

What else have Senators been up to? Separately, the Senate on Wednesday voted on but did not advance a bill to block Congress members from purchasing stocks of publicly traded companies. The legislation would also require the lawmakers to provide advance notice when selling stocks. The bill failed to advance to a floor vote, receiving only 53 votes in favor rather than the required threshold of 60. A total of 47 senators, all Democrats or Independents, voted against it.

Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer said the bill didn’t go far enough, since it still allowed Congress members to keep stocks they already own and continue to buy private stocks. The bill also contained a provision, inserted by the Republican-controlled House, requiring voters to present photo identification. Democrats have strongly opposed such legislation.

Dig deeper: Read my report on the Senate’s hearing for another health department nominee, Heidi Overton.