Gary Cameron/Reuters
President Trump’s administration asked U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to step down on Friday, replacing him with his deputy. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a late-night statement saying Murthy “was asked to resign from his duties as Surgeon General after assisting in a smooth transition into the new Trump Administration.” Murthy, an appointee of former President Obama, has been replaced by Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams, the current Deputy Surgeon General and one of the first nurses to serve as surgeon general. Trent-Adams had already replaced Murthy on the surgeon general’s Twitter account late Friday, leaving commentators asking what had happened to Murthy. Murthy was outspoken in calling attention to the country’s rampant gun violence and well-known for acknowledging that marijuana can be “helpful” for certain conditions.