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US President-elect Donald Trump announced Dr Mehmet Oz, a former surgeon and TV celebrity known as "Dr Oz," to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Tuesday (Nov 19).

Taking to his Truth Social platform, the Republican wrote, "America is facing a Healthcare Crisis and there may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again."

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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is a wide-spread agency having an annual spending of $2.6 trillion.

Oz ran for the US Senate in 2022 in Pennsylvania and Trump endorsed him at that time, but Oz couldn't win.

In his announcement, Trump made it clear that OZ will work closely with Robert F Kennedy Jr, who was nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services in Trump's second term.

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Trump claimed that the duo would take care of “the illness industrial complex, and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake." He further said they will also work towards cutting what the Republicans call waste and fraud.

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“Our broken healthcare System harms everyday Americans, and crushes our Country’s budget,” Trump's statement read.

The agency that Oz has been nominated for runs Medicare.

Medicare is a federal health insurance program for old citizens aged 65 and above and for specially-abled people.

The agency also takes care of Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income Americans.

The two groups of insurance provide medical insurance to more than 140 million Americans.

During the global pandemic of 2019, Oz was a regular Fox News commentator. During that time, Oz immensely criticised the Biden administration's policies regarding Covid-19 on social media.

He slammed mask policies and claimed that the Biden administration ignored the science and based its policies on missing data.

'Won't Reconsider Gaetz Nomination'

Speaking about his pick for attorney general, Trump said he would not reconsider his nomination of Matt Gaetz, according to The Guardian.

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The 42-year-old Gaetz was investigated by the justice department for nearly three years over sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl.

(With inputs from agencies)