President Trump Reportedly Selects New FDA Commissioner

Breaking News: President Trump is said to be planning to nominate Dr. Heidi Overton, a top White House official, to lead the FDA.https://t.co/Pgs0hjMYFy

— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 19, 2026

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During the event, Dr. Overton said the order could help states recognize “gold standard” recommendations and take steps to limit vaccines required for school entry.

“We are going to be working directly with states so that we’re not reliant on the court case to resolve,” Dr. Overton said, referring to ongoing litigation over pared-down vaccine recommendations. “We are doing it right away so that parents get the benefit from state laws changing.”

Dr. Overton, a physician, is currently deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy. A former chief policy officer at the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank, she has also written articles that denounced abortion as “corrosive” to women and called for more controls over the prescribing of abortion pills. She has called the pills “far more dangerous to women,” aligning with conservatives who have urged the F.D.A. to take steps to restrict access to abortion medication.

In September, Mr. Kennedy credited Dr. Overton and Calley Means, another top health adviser, with working on a MAHA strategy report that called for additional review of chemicals in food and an increase in oversight over pharmaceutical advertisements.

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Dr. Heidi Overton, Deputy Director, White House Domestic Policy Council: "You are saying, especially to states that are willing, take a look at this scientific assessment. These are the Gold Standard childhood vaccine recommendations, and you should put this into your state law… https://t.co/kWCiARABl2 pic.twitter.com/6ipeStoax3

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 10, 2026

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Overton is board-certified in public health and general preventive medicine, and was a general surgery resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, where she also earned a doctorate in clinical investigation.

The decision to elevate Overton maintains a decadeslong tradition of appointing a medical doctor to the role.

Bloomberg first reported her selection.

She crossed paths with former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary at Johns Hopkins, where he was a professor of surgery and health policy; they co-wrote a 2017 op-ed blaming surgeons’ prescribing practices for exacerbating the opioid crisis.

Makary led the agency from March 2025 till his ouster in May. His stint was marked by mass layoffs, persistent churn among senior leaders and policy fights with lawmakers, drugmakers and Trump.

Kyle Diamantas is currently leading the agency in an acting capacity. A friend of the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and a former partner at the law firm Jones Day, Diamantas has also led the agency’s food division.

Overton will need Senate confirmation before she can assume the role.

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