Dr. Heidi Overton, a top White House aide, has been picked to lead the Food and Drug Administration, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday.
US President Donald Trump has selected physician and senior White House aide Dr. Heidi Overton to lead the Food and Drug Administration, putting a prominent supporter of his health agenda in charge of one of the country’s most powerful public health regulators.
In a Truth Social post, Trump announced Overton’s selection on Wednesday, describing her as a smart and respected “rockstar” who would deliver on his priorities of faster cures, innovation, lower drug prices and more wins for Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again movement.
Overton attended medical school at the University of New Mexico and has a doctorate in clinical investigation from Johns Hopkins University, according to her LinkedIn profile. Before joining Trump’s second administration, she served as chief policy officer at the conservative think tank America First Policy Institute.
Key role amid competing health priorities
Overton would take over an FDA facing competing demands from different factions within the Trump administration and the Republican Party.
Traditional Republican policymakers have pushed for reducing regulations, while Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has promoted a more anti-corporate approach to healthcare as part of his Make America Healthy Again agenda.
Trump’s own priorities include reducing drug costs and accelerating the development and approval of treatments.
The position was left vacant after former FDA Commissioner Dr Marty Makary resigned in May. His tenure included unfinished initiatives involving ultra-processed foods, antidepressants and COVID-19 vaccines.
More from WorldOverton has emerged as a visible supporter of several Trump health policies in recent months. She appeared alongside the president as the administration promoted agreements with pharmaceutical companies aimed at bringing US drug prices closer to those in other developed countries.
She also stood with Trump during the rollout of his controversial vaccine order seeking to separate the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three individual shots.
At the event, Trump made claims suggesting that the number or timing of childhood vaccines could contribute to rising autism rates. However, decades of scientific research and the medical consensus have found no causal link between vaccines and autism.
Abortion pills could face renewed scrutiny
Overton’s views on abortion could also come under scrutiny if she is confirmed.
She has previously criticised abortion pills and could, as FDA commissioner, play a role in reversing or tightening rules that have made the medications more accessible.
US abortion opponents have expressed frustration that the Trump administration has not taken stronger action against the online prescribing and distribution of abortion pills, which they argue undermines state-level abortion restrictions.
Her nomination will now move to the US Senate, where she will need confirmation from the narrowly Republican-controlled chamber.
She is also likely to face tough questioning from the Senate health committee. Its chairman, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, has publicly criticised some of Trump’s efforts to cast doubt on vaccines, including the president’s recent vaccine-related order.
Overton’s confirmation could therefore become an early test of how far Trump’s broader health agenda will shape the FDA under new leadership.
With inputs from agencies
