Trump nominates Heidi Overton for FDA

President Trump nominated White House official Heidi Overton to be the next Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner.

The details:

Overton is President Trump’s deputy assistant for domestic policy with a focus on health policy. While Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kennedy has been the public face of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, Overton has been the top health policymaker behind the scenes.
During Trump’s first administration, Overton was a fellow at the Office of American Innovation and the Domestic Policy Council. She then served as chief policy officer for the America First Policy Institute think-tank and led its Center for a Healthy America.
Overton is board-certified in public health and general preventive medicine. She was a general surgery resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she also earned a doctorate in clinical investigation.
Overton crossed paths with former FDA Commissioner Makary at Johns Hopkins, where he was a professor. They co-wrote a 2017 op-ed blaming surgeons’ prescribing practices for exacerbating the opioid crisis.

The response:

While Overton has won over leaders at HHS and the White House, she has faced criticism from some MAHA activists for slowing down certain priorities. She reportedly pared down the executive order on psychedelic therapies, for example.
Her limited leadership experience has some across industry and government questioning her ability to manage the powerful agency.
Some critics are raising her ties to Makary, whose exit came amid clashes with the drug industry and opposition to Trump’s push for flavored vapes.

Next steps: Overton will need Senate confirmation before she can assume the role. But she could face resistance from some senators.

Robyn Oster

Director of Policy

Published

August 2026

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