Trump picks Dr. Heidi Overton, a top White House aide, to lead the Food
and Drug Administration
[August 20, 2026]
By ALI SWENSON and MATTHEW PERRONE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Heidi Overton, a top White House aide, has been
picked to lead the Food and Drug Administration, President Donald Trump
announced Wednesday.
Overton is a medical doctor and deputy director of the White House
Domestic Policy Council who has worked on several of Trump’s second-term
health initiatives. She has become a trusted administration figure and a
champion of the Republican president’s goals.
If confirmed by the Senate, she would have to balance a raft of
competing priorities, including Trump’s fixations, the anti-regulatory
interests of traditional Republicans and the anti-corporate posture of
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Those challenges dogged the tenure of the previous FDA head, Dr. Marty
Makary. He resigned in May, leaving behind unfinished projects such as
work on ultraprocessed foods, antidepressants and COVID-19 shots.
Referring to her as “Dr. Heidi” in a Truth Social post, Trump said
Overton was 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.
Kennedy posted on X that Overton has “exceptional judgment,
professionalism, discipline and an unwavering commitment to the American
people.”
Overton has promoted Trump’s health priorities
Overton attended medical school at the University of New Mexico and has
a doctoral degree in clinical investigation from Johns Hopkins
University, according to her LinkedIn profile. Before joining Trump’s
second administration, she was the chief policy officer at the America
First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank.
In recent months, she has appeared with the president to announce major
projects, including some of his “most favored nation” deals with drug
companies to lower prices to those of other developed countries and his
recent vaccine order that sought to split the combined measles, mumps
and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three separate immunizations — against
the advice of medical groups.
At an Oval Office event to promote that order, she stood by Trump as he
falsely suggested the number or timing of vaccines could play a role in
rising rates of autism spectrum disorder. Scientific consensus and
decades of studies have firmly concluded there is no link.
Overton has been critical of abortion pills and, if confirmed, would be
positioned to roll back FDA rules that made them more accessible. U.S.
abortion opponents have expressed frustration that the administration
has not acted to stem the flow of such pills prescribed online, a
situation they view as undermining state abortion bans.
Mifepristone is typically used with misoprostol in medication abortions
that make up close to two-thirds of abortions in the U.S. Medical
professionals call it “among the safest medications” ever approved by
the FDA.
To be confirmed, Overton must seek approval from a narrowly
Republican-led Senate and face questions from the Senate Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Its chair, Republican Sen. Bill
Cassidy, a physician from Louisiana, has been a vocal critic of some of
Trump’s actions to sow doubt in vaccinations, including the MMR order.
Cassidy posted Wednesday that while he respects Overton's medical
background, he has “strong concerns” about the nomination, mentioning
her lack of managerial experience and her participation in the recent
vaccine order, which he called “almost disqualifying.”
Democratic senators slammed the nomination.
“Heidi Overton is a far-right, anti-abortion extremist who has no
business leading the FDA,” posted Washington Sen. Patty Murray, a
committee member.
Makary’s replacement will face challenges he left behind
Before he left the FDA, Makary had drawn complaints from health industry
executives and anti-abortion activists. The frustration with him came to
a head over the agency’s lack of movement on flavored e-cigarettes.
Companies such as R.J. Reynolds are seeking to market to adult smokers,
but sweet-flavored vapes have long been blamed for the trend of teenage
vaping. FDA scientists have hesitated to endorse those products to curb
adult smoking.
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Heidi Overton, deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy
Council, speaks during a meeting to sign an executive order about
vaccines, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026, in the Oval Office of the White
House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
 Days before Makary's departure, the
agency opened the door to allowing more unauthorized electronic
cigarettes and nicotine pouches onto the U.S. market, in a policy
change that essentially bypassed FDA experts.
Pharmaceutical companies will be looking for changes at the agency,
too, after rejections or reversals of biotech drugs intended for
rare diseases. Complaints from biotech companies, investors and
patient groups have grown and been taken up by conservative
lawmakers.
Makary tried to assuage industry grievances, in part by announcing
new programs designed to streamline or accelerate drug approvals.
Some of those initiatives, however, have meant new headaches for the
agency.
Several of Makary’s deputies also exited the agency.
Dr. Vinay Prasad, the vaccine and biotech chief, stepped down in
April following intense criticism from drugmakers, patients and
investors. Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, who was involved in scrutinizing the
safety of antidepressants, COVID-19 vaccines and other widely used
therapies, was replaced as FDA’s acting drug center director.
MAHA has high expectations of FDA's next head
Overton would also need to tend to the priorities of Kennedy’s
health movement, some members of which are already skeptical of her.
Kelly Ryerson, an activist critical of pesticides who is known to
her supporters as “Glyphosate Girl,” told The Associated Press that
Overton parroted pesticide manufacturer Bayer's talking points in a
MAHA roundtable at the White House in April.
“I was stunned by the blatant, undisguised corruption,” Ryerson
said.
One major decision for the next commissioner is what to do about
peptide regulation. A panel of federal health advisers selected by
Kennedy recently recommended easing access to several peptides that
are popular with wellness influencers and celebrities, despite
warnings from FDA scientists that the chemicals have not been shown
to be safe or effective.
The agency recently proposed a rule change that would require food
manufacturers to notify regulators before introducing new
ingredients or additives into processed or packaged foods. But it is
still working with the White House to finalize a first-of-its-kind
definition of ultraprocessed foods, which Kennedy blames for
elevated rates of diabetes, obesity and other chronic conditions.
Under Kennedy, the FDA has set up extra hurdles for vaccine testing
and blocked the publication of research into the effectiveness of
COVID-19 shots. Kennedy stood by Trump recently as the president
signed the executive order aimed at upending childhood vaccinations
in the U.S. despite unprecedented financial and logistical
challenges.
The FDA also has an ongoing review of widely used antidepressants,
including whether they may increase the risk of autism and other
disorders when used during pregnancy. The medicines have long been a
target of Kennedy, who was a leader in the anti-vaccine movement
before joining the government.
In recent weeks, the agency has been investigating two summertime
foodborne illness outbreaks: a cyclospora outbreak linked to tainted
iceberg lettuce that has sickened thousands of people and a
multistate salmonella outbreak linked to jalapeño peppers.
___
Swenson reported from New York. Associated Press journalist Laura
Ungar contributed from Louisville, Kentucky.
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