Hawley expresses skepticism of Oz over abortion, trans rights
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) expressed skepticism about Dr. Mehmet Oz's, President Trump's pick to oversee Medicare and Medicaid, views on abortion and transgender rights.
“I’ve been reading up on Dr. Oz – I see he’s praised trans surgeries for minors and supported hormone treatments & puberty blockers for kids in the past,” Hawley wrote on X. “And has also criticized state laws protecting life. I hope he’s changed his views to match President Trump!”
“We need the Trump agenda at CMS,” Hawley said.
Hawley was responding to his official account, which showed the questions he planned to ask Oz during his confirmation process in the Senate.
If confirmed, Oz would take over the $1.5 trillion agency, despite having no experience running a large bureaucracy.
As a TV personality who gained national attention as a medical expert on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show in the 2000s and with his own show "The Dr. Oz Show," Oz’s politics were initially unclear.
Hawley has planned to question Oz about him hosting “various transgender advocates,” surgeons who performed transgender-related surgeries and minors who discussed “switching genders.
He also planned to question Oz on the use of puberty blockers for minors, the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Supreme Court decision, fetal heartbeat laws, and many other questions.
Oz hosted what the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) organization called at the time a "groundbreaking" interview with transgender youth. Oz's show has since been viewed by LGTBQ+ advocates as promoting false or misleading medical claims, particularly about the LGBTQ+ community.
Oz has a history of endorsing often controversial products, blurring the lines between pitching for celebrities and being an educated medical official.
He’s the latest in Trump’s appointees to have previously appeared on TV and been a controversial pick to lead a federal agency.