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Oct. 23 (UPI) — The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions has scheduled a virtual confirmation hearing for surgeon general nominee Dr. Casey Means five months after she was nominated.

The hearing is scheduled on Oct. 30, and Means, 38, who is pregnant, will be in Kilauea, Hawaii, when she testifies remotely, ABC News reported.

If the committee votes in favor of her recommendation, she then would be subject to a confirmation vote before the full Senate.

President Donald Trump cited her “impeccable” credentials as an advocate for the Make America Healthy Again movement begun by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Means also is an advocate for wearable health devices and co-founded health tech firm Levels, which promotes the use of technology to track individuals’ health information, according to The Hill.

Kennedy, likewise, favors the use of wearable health-tracking devices and wants to make it possible for everyone in the United States to wear one within four years.

Means also is the sister of Kennedy adviser Calley Means.

Trump nominated Means in May after withdrawing his prior surgeon general nomination for Janette Nesheiwat when her qualifications were questioned.

Means obtained her medical training at Stanford University but exited her residency program when she was disillusioned by the financial incentives for and practice of surgical care.

She since has become known for her advocacy for wellness and the roles of diet and nutrition in people’s health.

Means says diet is the root cause of much of the chronic illnesses that people experience.

Her HELP committee confirmation hearing was delayed due to Means not submitting financial and ethics records until recently, according to The New York Times.

Her financial records show Means has turned her support for diet as a root cause of illnesses into a moneymaker by accepting payments from companies that sell dietary supplements, deliver home meals and other revenue sources.

She also receives sponsorship money for her newsletter, which generated about $116,000 in income over a recent 18-month period, according to The New York Times.

Her financial disclosures also show Swiss firm Amazentis contributed another $79,000 in newsletter sponsorship funding and paid $55,000 for Means’ book tour fees.

She also reported earning less than $1 million but more than $100,000 on the sales of her book, “Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health.”

Some of Means’s critics say her health advocacy is not rooted in science and might cause harm.

WASHINGTON — President Trump is undergoing what he has described as a “semiannual physical” at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday.

The visit, which the White House announced earlier this week, comes as Trump is preparing to travel to the Middle East on the heels of a ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas war. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described it as a “routine yearly checkup,” although Trump had his annual physical in April.

The White House declined to explain why Trump was getting a yearly checkup six months after his annual exam. But in an exchange with reporters Thursday, he said it was a “semiannual physical.”

“I’m meeting with the troops, and I’m also going to do a, sort of, semiannual physical, which I do,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I think I’m in great shape, but I’ll let you know.”

The president is scheduled to return to the White House after his visit to Walter Reed, which is located in Bethesda, Maryland.

Trump’s April physical found that he was “fully fit” to serve as commander in chief. The three-page summary of the exam done by his doctor, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, said he had lost 20 pounds (9 kilograms) since a medical exam in June 2020 and said he has an “active lifestyle” that “continues to contribute significantly” to the well-being of the president, who’s 79.

In July, the White House announced that Trump recently had had a medical checkup after noticing “mild swelling” in his lower legs and was found to have a condition common in older adults that causes blood to pool in his veins. Tests by the White House medical unit showed that Trump has chronic venous insufficiency, which occurs when little valves inside the veins that normally help move blood against gravity gradually lose the ability to work properly.

At the April physical, Trump also passed a short screening test to assess different brain functions.

Kim writes for the Associated Press.