Cecilia Lei

She also has a popular newsletter about healthy eating and founded a company that helps people monitor glucose levels.

Her focus on chronic diseases and avoiding ultra-processed foods would find support on both sides of the aisle.

But Means was also a key advisor during Kennedy's failed presidential bid, and she's credited with being one of the key architects of the Make America Healthy Again agenda.

Vaccines were a major focus of the hearing.

Here is Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, a doctor himself.

Pushing for a direct answer, Cassidy pressed her further on any links to vaccines.

Bendix told us that Means skirted questions at times or deferred to the CDC.

In an exchange with Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, she appeared reluctant to take a view on Kennedy's recent unsubstantiated claims that the flu vaccine did nothing to prevent hospitalization or death in children.

The position has been unfilled for more than a year as Means' confirmation was delayed after giving birth.

In that time, polling suggests that trust in agencies like the FDA and the CDC have declined as Kennedy has placed his supporters into top technical posts.

The Surgeon General role, Bendix explained, is crucial for communicating health messages.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is pushing hard and fast to integrate AI across all aspects of the U.S.

military.

And he made that clear during a visit with SpaceX employees last month.

Several companies, including Google, OpenAI, and XAI, won $200 million contracts last year to implement their tools at the Pentagon.

But only one of those companies has been approved for use in classified military systems after officials deemed it the most advanced and secure, Anthropic and its model, Claude.

Now a dispute has erupted over the application of Anthropic's tools at home and on the battlefield, and it's pitting company executives against HEGSF and the administration.

Dave Lawler is the national security editor for Axios.

After a tense meeting between top Pentagon officials and Anthropic CEO Dario Made, the company is now on a deadline to comply with the military's demands or face some pretty serious consequences.

Under the Defense Production Act, President Trump could force Anthropic to build a clawed model that works the way the Pentagon wants it to.