Trump nominates Heidi Overton to lead FDA

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he will nominate Dr. Heidi Overton, a White House domestic policy official and physician who has worked closely on his health agenda, to serve as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.

The nomination would put Overton in line to lead an agency that regulates the nation’s drugs, medical devices and much of its food supply at a turbulent moment, with recent disease outbreaks, questions about food safety and ongoing battles over abortion medication, vaping policy and vaccines. She will need Senate confirmation.

“Today I am honored to nominate the wonderful Dr. Heidi Overton, MD, PhD, as our next FDA Commissioner,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Dr. Heidi has been a ROCKSTAR in my Administration, where she has worked directly with Secretary Kennedy, Dr. Oz, and team, to deliver on the MOST TRANSFORMATIVE Health Agenda in History.”

Trump said Overton would work with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz, who leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, on “FASTER Cures, INCREASED American Innovation, MAJOR Clinical Trial Reforms, LOWER Drug Prices, and even more MAHA WINS.” He also wrote that Kennedy had recently said in the Oval Office that “Heidi is ‘ALWAYS RIGHT.’”

Overton is deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy at the White House and regularly briefs Trump on health issues, NBC News reported. She previously served as vice chair and chief policy officer of the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank.

Her selection follows the May resignation of former FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary. CBS News reported at the time that a source familiar with the matter said Makary left amid an internal debate over flavored e-cigarettes, saying he did not want to approve flavored varieties but had been forced to by others in the administration. NBC News reported Makary had clashed with the White House over issues including vaping policy and access to abortion pills.

The FDA is currently led by acting Commissioner Kyle Diamantas. NBC News, citing a senior administration official, reported that Overton was Trump’s third choice for the job and that the administration was still interviewing candidates Tuesday. Former Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, declined the role, as did Diamantas, who cited his young children and other personal reservations, the official said. The Guardian reported that NBC News had identified Diamantas and Wenstrup as earlier choices.

Overton has drawn attention for her positions on abortion and vaccines. While at the America First Policy Institute, she praised the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, saying it “will allow Americans to reevaluate the value of the potential of every baby in the womb and choose life through a democratic process.” In a 2024 Newsweek opinion piece, she criticized Kamala Harris, then vice president and the Democratic presidential nominee, saying Harris “refused to condemn late-term abortion” and that Democrats “won’t even define what a woman is.”

The Guardian reported that Overton described mifepristone in a 2023 policy brief as “teleabortion” and “abortion-on-demand,” and said Congress should strictly regulate it “to protect women and children.” The FDA is conducting a safety review of mifepristone but has not yet issued a report. Republicans have pushed to reverse a Biden-era rule allowing the abortion pill to be mailed and dispensed through telehealth, rather than only in person.

Overton also stood with Trump earlier this month when he signed an executive order aimed at changing childhood vaccine recommendations. NBC News reported the order was aimed at reducing the number of standard childhood vaccinations from 18 to 11, while The Guardian described it as an order to split the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine into three separate shots.

“We do still recommend the measles vaccine for all children, but we want parents to be informed about the timing and to have the option to separate them out,” Overton said at the event, according to The Guardian. She urged states to adopt what she called the administration’s “gold standard childhood vaccine recommendations” and criticized “blue states” that follow outside groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The American Academy of Pediatrics described the order as “not only disheartening but dangerous,” The Guardian reported. NBC News reported that many doctors said the administration’s recommendations were not supported by current science.

According to Overton’s America First Policy Institute profile, she is board-certified in public health and general preventive medicine, completed medical school at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and was a general surgery resident at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. CBS News reported she was also a White House fellow during Trump’s first term.