Trump taps White House aide Heidi Overton to lead FDA

US President Donald Trump has nominated White House health policy aide Heidi Overton to take up the mantle of commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), ending months of speculation over who would take on the role permanently.

A physician by training, Overton is currently working as a White House domestic policy official, where she is charged with briefing the President on health issues impacting the US. Most recently, she appeared at President Trump’s side during the signing of an executive order to overhaul federal childhood vaccines policies, including restricting the number of federally recommended shots and separating the MMR vaccine into three individual shots.

Overton was one of several names that had been linked with the FDA commissioner role, however, shortly after Bloomberg first reported rumours that her nomination had been secured, the President took to his social media platform Truth Social to confirm the news, praising Overton as a “ROCKSTAR” in his administration and saying her leadership was needed to keep the US at the forefront of scientific discovery and drug development.

The FDA has been led on an acting basis by Kyle Diamantas since May, when Marty Makary resigned after 13 months as commissioner. Diamantas, the agency’s former deputy commissioner for food, remains in the role while Overton’s nomination moves through the confirmation process.

Overton previously held a senior role at the conservative America First Policy Institute. She is a physician who earned her medical degree through the University of New Mexico’s combined BA/MD programme and a PhD in Clinical Investigation from Johns Hopkins.

While her nomination has been a long-awaited announcement, it is likely to draw particular scrutiny over her record on abortion and vaccines. Overton has previously gone on the record arguing for tighter regulation of the abortion medication mifepristone, which she described as “teleabortion” and “abortion-on-demand”, and argued that Congress should work to strictly regulate “to protect women and children”. If confirmed, she would oversee the FDA’s regulation of mifepristone at a time when access to medication abortion remains a major political issue in the US.

For the pharmaceutical industry, Overton’s appointment would come as the FDA attempts to rebuild stability following extensive staff losses and leadership upheaval. The agency has also been navigating Trump’s push for faster drug approvals and clinical trial reforms alongside Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s broader “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.

Her confirmation could therefore provide a clearer indication of how far the administration intends to reshape the FDA’s approach to drug regulation, public health, and scientific policy.