In naming Oz as his pick, Trump said Oz will “work closely with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to take on the illness industrial complex, and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake.” Oz skeptics, however, point to his support for unproven theories about Covid-19 cures, including hydroxychloroquine, and his lack of experience in the federal government.

As CMS administrator, Oz would have tremendous latitude over health coverage for the more than 160 million Americans in Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs. In 2013, Oz suggested that uninsured people should get 15-minute checkups funded by local hospitals in a “festival-like settiing,” saying they “don’t have a right to health” but have a right to access.

Oz is also a major supporter of Medicare Advantage, the Medicare-approved private option that has grown in popularity but has come under intense scrutiny for care denials and alleged overbilling. In August, he posted a YouTube video to his nearly 2 million subscribers on “the benefits of enrolling” in the program.

Moderate Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told POLITICO he is “well respected” as a physician.

“It may well be helpful to have someone who has been a health care provider running that agency because they would have a whole different perspective,” Collins said.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the incoming chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said Oz’s nomination is a “great opportunity to help patients and implement conservative health reforms.”

“He is a practicing physician,” said Cassidy, who is a gastroenterologist. “He understands the practical implications and applications of CMS payment laws as one example. Dr. Oz is a pretty bright guy.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said that he’s “obviously a competent doctor” and he’ll look at Oz’s resume “like everybody else.”

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told POLITICO he likes Dr. Oz and he’s “quite an accomplished businessman.” Asked if that was enough to lead CMS, Cornyn said it is.

Oz is also getting support from the conservative health establishment. Mark McClellan, the former CMS administrator under then-President George W. Bush, told POLITICO that Oz “has shown he can inspire Americans to stay as healthy as possible.”

“He can help inspire CMS to build on its important steps in this direction, through coverage and payment reforms that pay for innovative care that works, not just more medical services,” said McClellan, who serves on the boards of insurer Cigna and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson.

Fetterman, who painted Oz as an out-of-touch carpetbagger from New Jersey in their 2022 contest, has signaled openness to him.

“If Dr. Oz is about protecting and preserving Medicare and Medicaid, I’m voting for the dude,” Fetterman wrote in a post on X. He didn’t elaborate on what that meant specifically when asked by POLITICO.

Outside of Fetterman, it’s unclear how much Democratic support Oz might get.

“Dr. Oz is no stranger to peddling nonsense to innocent Americans without facing consequences,” Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in a statement. Wyden will be the panel’s ranking member in the next Congress once Republicans take the majority. “Americans deserve a leader at CMS who will stand up to Big Pharma and insurance fraudsters who are misleading seniors and denying them essential health care, and I’m not sure a talk show host is up for the fight,” he added.

It’s not clear what “nonsense” Wyden was referencing.

Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) called Oz “a great TV doctor with quack weight-loss recommendations.” “We’ve got a ways to go before I get there,” he added.

Oz pushed “raspberry ketones” and green coffee bean extract for weight loss despite a dearth of evidence. The Federal Trade Commission prohibited a company that appeared on Oz’s show from making deceptive claims about the green coffee bean extract.