US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday appointed Dr. Mehmet Oz, a former television talk show host and cardiothoracic surgeon, to head the agency that oversees health insurance programs for millions of elderly, poor and disabled Americans, and also chose Wall Street executive Howard Lutnick to head the agency. Leadership of the Ministry of Commerce.
“Dr. Oz will be a leader in incentivizing disease prevention, so that we have the best outcomes in the world for every dollar we spend on health care in our great country,” Trump said in a statement. “He will also cut waste and fraud within our nation’s most expensive government agency,” Trump said in a statement. Which represents a third of our country’s spending on health care, and a quarter of our entire national budget.”
Oz, who ran an unsuccessful 2022 bid to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate, has been an outspoken supporter of Trump, and in recent days expressed support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to run the Department of Health, the nation’s top health agency. and human services.
As director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Oz reported to Kennedy. If Oz is confirmed by the Senate, he will be responsible for the programs — Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act — that more than half the country relies on for health insurance.
Medicaid provides nearly free health care coverage to millions of the poorest children and adults in the United States, while Medicare gives older and disabled Americans access to health insurance. The Affordable Care Act is an Obama-era program that provides health insurance plans to millions of Americans who do not qualify for government-backed health insurance, but do not obtain insurance through their employer.
“Americans need better research on healthy lifestyle choices from unbiased scientists, and @robertfkennedyjr can help as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services,” Oz shared in an Instagram post last week, alongside a photo of him and Kennedy together.
Oz was accused of promoting questionable treatments and medical products on his defunct television show. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he lobbied government officials to make hydroxychloroquine widely available, despite unresolved questions about its safety and effectiveness.
Lutnick to oversee trade and tariffs
Trump said Tuesday that Lutnick will have a key role in implementing and enforcing Trump’s plan to increase tariffs as Commerce Secretary. Lutnick is a cryptocurrency enthusiast and president of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald.
Get weekly health news
Get the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.
Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. In the post, Trump said Lutnick “will lead our agenda on tariffs and trade, with additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative.”
Lutnick is co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, a former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with presenting candidates for key roles in the next administration.
The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling government agency involved in financing new computer chip factories, enforcing trade restrictions, issuing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position where communications with CEOs and the wider business community are crucial.
“Tariffs are a great tool for the president to use — we need to protect the American worker,” Lutnick, a proponent of broad tariffs, told CNBC in September. During his election campaign, Trump proposed imposing a 60% tariff on goods coming from China – and a tariff of up to 20% on everything else the United States imports.
Economists are generally skeptical of tariffs, seeing them as a mostly ineffective way for governments to raise money and boost prosperity.
Lutnick had been nominated to be Treasury Secretary, a role that has been at the heart of high-level maneuverings within Trumpworld. Meanwhile, the Treasury situation is being closely watched in financial circles, as a filibuster candidate could have immediate negative consequences for the stock market, which Trump is closely monitoring.
The news also comes after billionaire Elon Musk and others in Trump’s orbit called on Trump to dump the front-runner for Treasury Secretary, Scott Besent, in favor of Lutnick. “Bessent is a business-as-usual option, while @howardlutnick will actually make the change,” Musk said in his post.
Lutnick joined Cantor Fitzgerald in 1983 and rose through the ranks until he was named president and CEO in 1991.
Lutnick also heads financial technology company BGC Group, Inc. and commercial real estate services company Newmark Group, Inc.
Lutnick has donated to both Democrats and Republicans in the past, and once appeared on Trump’s NBC reality show, “The Apprentice.” He has become part of the president-elect’s inner circle, sharing the stage with Trump at events in the final days of his campaign, including a rally at Madison Square Garden.
He was criticized in the final days of the campaign for giving a CNN interview in which he repeated Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s false criticisms of vaccines.
Associated Press writer Matthew Perrone in Washington contributed.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
