President-elect Donald Trump continued to fill the top levels of his administration on Tuesday, choosing Howard Lutnick, the co-chair of his presidential transition team and CEO of brokerage firm Cantor Fitzgerald, as his commerce secretary and nominating Dr. Mehmet Oz, the former television host, to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS).
Lutnick, a cryptocurrency enthusiast, had reportedly been a top contender for treasury secretary. At the Commerce Department, he will be responsible for overseeing Trump’s trade and tariff agenda as the head of a 51,000-person agency with a wide-ranging role in growing the economy and promoting U.S. business globally.
Oz, meanwhile, continues Trump’s pattern of building a made-for-TV administration. Best known as a television personality, Oz was a heart surgeon before becoming a talk show host. Trump’s announcement notes that he won nine Daytime Emmy Awards for “The Dr. Oz Show.” A vocal Trump supporter, Oz ran for the Senate in 2022 as a Republican but lost to Sen. John Fetterman, who regularly mocked him as a wealthy celebrity carpetbagger out of touch with the people of Pennsylvania.
The 64-year-old Oz has also been criticized for promoting questionable medical products and treatments. He has no experience leading the type of large-scale bureaucracy he would oversee if confirmed by the Senate. As CMS administrator, he would oversee Medicare and Medicaid, the government’s massive health insurance programs for the elderly, poor and disabled, as well as the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Healthcare.gov Affordable Care Act exchange. In all, CMS oversees health coverage for more than 150 million people and accounts for more than $1.5 trillion in net spending, or 22% of federal outlays.
Oz would report to Trump’s controversial pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“America is facing a Healthcare Crisis, and there may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again,” Trump said in a statement announcing the pick. “Our broken Healthcare System harms everyday Americans, and crushes our Country’s budget. 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. 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.”
The bottom line: Oz is already facing criticism that he is unfit to head CMS — and concerns that he has promoted a slew of dubious alternative medical treatments or may want to privatize Medicare. But given the backlash other Trump nominees face, Oz may be likely to be confirmed, and even Fetterman has already indicated he’s prepared to vote in his favor. “I’m going to be very, very clear if Dr. Oz agrees to protect and preserve Medicaid and Medicare, I’m absolutely going to vote for the dude,” he told CNN.
