--- title: Trump Administration Asks Surgeon General To Resign description: President Donald Trump's administration asked the surgeon general, who was appointed by Barack Obama, to resign. He has since been replaced canonical: https://time.com/4751511/surgeon-general-vivek-murthy-donald-trump/ author: Jennifer Calfas article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-22T14:53:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:33:30.952Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Administration Dismisses Surgeon General Vivek Murthy og:description: Surgeon General Vivek Murthy was known for his stance on gun violence og:url: https://time.com/4751511/surgeon-general-vivek-murthy-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta059d807707c0aa1/6988c403fb4eac73b4891a64/vivek-murthy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-ENVIRONMENT-CLIMATE-OBAMA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Administration Dismisses Surgeon General Vivek Murthy twitter:description: Surgeon General Vivek Murthy was known for his stance on gun violence twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta059d807707c0aa1/6988c403fb4eac73b4891a64/vivek-murthy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Administration Dismisses Surgeon General Vivek Murthy by [Jennifer Calfas](https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Apr 22, 2017 2:53 PM UTC  US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy delivers remarks at a Clean Power Plan event at the White House in Washington, DC, August 3, 2015. US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy delivers remarks at a Clean Power Plan event at the White House in Washington, DC, August 3, 2015.Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images by [Jennifer Calfas](https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Apr 22, 2017 2:53 PM UTC The [Trump Administration](http://time.com/4740155/trump-north-carolina-bathroom-bill-lawsuit-dropped/) asked Surgeon General [Vivek Murthy](http://motto.time.com/4337454/vivek-murthy-commencement-speech-arizona/) to resign, calling his departure a continuation of the transition between the two presidential administrations. Murthy was replaced by his deputy, Rear Adm. Sylvia Trent-Adams, a nurse who currently serves in an acting role. The official [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Surgeon%5FGeneral) and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/pg/USSurgeonGeneral/posts/?ref=page%5Finternal) accounts for the surgeon general have been changed to reflect the replacement. “Dr. Murthy has been relieved of his duties as Surgeon General and will continue to serve as a member of the Commissioned Corps,” a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services said, [according to _USA Today_](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/04/21/surgeon-general-dismissed-replaced-trump-administration/100767454/). The department said Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price “thanks him for his dedicated service to the nation,” _USA Today_ reports. Murthy was appointed by former President [Barack Obama](http://time.com/4750637/barack-obama-chicago-speech/) in 2014\. Murthy confirmed his departure from the role [in a Facebook post](https://www.facebook.com/DrVivekMurthy/posts/251023231970308), in which he outlined his greatest lessons and accomplishments from his tenure and thanked his colleagues and family. “While I had hoped to do more to help our nation tackle its biggest health challenges, I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to have served,” Murthy wrote. Murthy was known for his strong stance on gun violence, calling it a public health threat. In fact, the [National Rifle Association](http://time.com/4343582/donald-trump-national-rifle-association-nra-endorsement/) came out against Murthy and advised the Senate not to confirm him in 2014. Murthy was the 19th surgeon general of the United States. A graduate from Harvard College and Yale University, Murthy co-founded Visions, an educational program for HIV/AIDS in the United States and India. A representative from the Department of Health and Human Services has not responded to request for comment. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4751511/surgeon-general-vivek-murthy-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4751511/surgeon-general-vivek-murthy-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Trump Administration Dismisses Surgeon General Vivek Murthy","datePublished":"2017-04-22T14:53:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:33:30.952Z","description":"Surgeon General Vivek Murthy was known for his stance on gun violence","url":"https://time.com/4751511/surgeon-general-vivek-murthy-donald-trump/","keywords":["White House","health","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta059d807707c0aa1/6988c403fb4eac73b4891a64/vivek-murthy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennifer Calfas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta059d807707c0aa1/6988c403fb4eac73b4891a64/vivek-murthy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-ENVIRONMENT-CLIMATE-OBAMA","caption":"US-POLITICS-ENVIRONMENT-CLIMATE-OBAMA","creditText":"Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4751511/surgeon-general-vivek-murthy-donald-trump/","name":"Trump Administration Dismisses Surgeon General Vivek Murthy"}}]}] ```