Trump expected to pick conservative policy wonk Heidi Overton to lead FDA

President Trump is expected to nominate Heidi Overton, a top conservative policy aide, as the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, according to multiple media reports.

Overton is currently the deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council and has played a key role in shaping a variety of health policies during Trump’s second term. At times, she has notably angered members of the Make America Healthy Again movement, which was created by anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Overton has a medical degree from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and earned a doctoral degree in clinical investigation from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. While at Johns Hopkins, she worked with Marty Makary, the previous FDA commissioner who was ousted by Trump amid a cacophony of controversies.

Makary and his political appointees at the FDA sparked anger and criticism due to a string of dubious moves on drugs for rare diseases, frustrating patients and the pharmaceutical industry alike. He also earned the ire of the tobacco industry, public health advocates, anti-abortion groups, and a variety of federal officials. According to sources for The Wall Street Journal, Overton was a staunch defender of Makary during his time in the role.

Prior to Overton’s current White House role, she worked on health policy for the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank previously helmed by Brooke Rollins, who now serves as Trump’s agriculture secretary.

Policy positions

In terms of her policy positions, The New York Times highlights that Overton has written articles calling abortion “corrosive” to women and calling abortion pills “far more dangerous to women,” despite extensive data suggesting that abortion pills are extremely safe. Experts have noted that they are safer than taking Viagra or getting a colonoscopy and significantly safer than giving birth. Still, Overton’s position aligns with conservative efforts to get the FDA to restrict access to abortion pills.