President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he is nominating Heidi Overton, a White House aide, to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“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 wrote in a Truth Social post.
Overton, who began as a White House fellow during Trump’s first term, has served as a domestic policy adviser to the president since he returned to the White House last year. Between Trump’s terms, Overton was a chief policy officer at America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank.
If confirmed, she would succeed former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, who resigned May 12. He made the decision in part over his reluctance to greenlight regulatory changes at Trump’s behest that authorized the sale of flavored vapes. Shortly after NOTUS first reported Makary’s poor standing with the White House, the agency announced it was approving four new flavored vape products.
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He left the agency just seven days later.
Overton is a staunch anti-abortion ally. While at the America First Policy Institute, she wrote that abortion pills are “dangerous to women” and advocated for restricting access, including prohibiting them from being available via mail.
Anti-abortion leaders are confident that Overton could revive the long-awaited FDA review of the abortion pill mifepristone that Makary had slow-walked.
“Dr. Overton is the right candidate,” John Mize, CEO of Americans United for Life, said in a statement. “She has the scientific and medical background that will enable her to perform an objective analysis of the dangers chemical abortion poses to women.”
While mifepristone is considered safe and effective by leading medical organizations, acting FDA Commissioner Kyle Diamantas has told anti-abortion advocates that he supports a safety review of abortion pills.
If the Senate confirms his pick, the Trump administration would have two abortion opponents overseeing abortion pill access: Overton at the FDA and Attorney General Todd Blanche, who has committed to enforcing the Comstock Act to ban abortion pills.
Overton did not immediately respond to NOTUS’ requests for comment via text.
Trump touted Overton’s qualifications for the role in his announcement, referring to her as “a Board-Certified Physician in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine, and holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Investigations from the Johns Hopkins University.”
Overton has appeared at Trump’s side many times in recent months, including when he signed an executive order to reshape the childhood vaccine schedule. She stood by the president as he claimed, without evidence, that the number and rate of vaccines could play a role in autism rates — though studies have found there is no link.
To be confirmed, Overton faces a Senate with a narrow Republican majority and a confirmation hearing in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Lousiana), the committee’s chair and a physician, has been critical of Trump and his vaccine policies, including his most recent executive order, which calls for splitting up childhood vaccines into three categories.
Republican Rep. Buddy Carter of Georgia and oncologist Jeff Vacirca were also being considered for the role, NOTUS reported earlier this week.
“Dr. Heidi Overton will perform excellently as FDA Commissioner, and I wish her success as she enacts the President’s Make America Healthy Again agenda. I am laser-focused on the work of the House and look forward to continuing to support the Trump administration, which has a mandate to put America First,” Carter said in a statement to NOTUS.
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