President Joe Biden is expected to name nurse Susan Orsega as the acting surgeon general. Orsega is both an officer in the U.S. Public Health Service corps. She could assume this position as early as January 26.
Orsega enters the position of acting surgeon general days after former Surgeon General Jerome Adams was asked to resign. Adams served as the surgeon general under former President Donald Trump. His colleague, former Deputy Surgeon General Erica Schwartz, also resigned after she was not selected as the surgeon general.
In the absence of Adams and Schwartz, Vivek Murthy is expected to become the President’s long term choice for the position. However, Senate confirmation hearings for Murthy have not yet been scheduled.
“The committee is ready to go with an aggressive scheduling of hearings once we organize, with nominations being a top priority,” Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee spokesperson Madeleine Russak said to the Washington Post.
Orsega will serve as surgeon general until Murthy is confirmed by the Senate.
