President Donald Trump has selected White House health-policy adviser Heidi Overton as his nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration, putting a physician closely involved in the administration’s health agenda in line to take over an agency rebuilding after former Commissioner Marty Makary‘s resignation and more than 3,000 staff cuts.
Overton Brings White House Health Policy Experience
Bloomberg first reported Overton’s selection late Tuesday before Reuters sources corroborated the news. Overton serves as deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, where she has helped vet major health-policy decisions. She had previously emerged on a three-person shortlist for the FDA post.
If confirmed by the Senate, Overton would inherit an FDA that has lost more than 3,000 employees and division leaders over the past year. Officials said in June the agency was hiring about 2,200 people after the cuts disrupted regulatory deadlines and drug reviews.
Benzinga reached out to the White House and the FDA for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
FDA Rebuilds After Makary’s Tumultuous Exit
Overton previously served as chief policy officer at the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute and vice chair of its Center for a Healthy America. She is board-certified in public health and general preventive medicine and trained in surgery and clinical investigation at Johns Hopkins.
Her Johns Hopkins connection overlaps with Makary, who taught surgery and health policy there. The pair co-wrote a 2017 BMJ opinion piece arguing surgeons’ prescribing practices helped fuel the opioid epidemic.
Makary resigned in May after 13 months at the FDA following clashes with White House and health officials over drug, vaccine and vaping policy. Earlier reporting had detailed White House plans to remove him. Days later, acting drug-center chief Tracy Beth Hoeg was also forced out.
Vaccine Policy Could Shape Confirmation Fight
Since then, acting Commissioner Kyle Diamantas has reopened regulatory paths for several rare-disease therapies, including a reconsideration of Regenxbio’s gene therapy, while pushing initiatives to accelerate drug development and domestic manufacturing.
Overton also appeared at a White House event last week as Trump announced changes to the childhood vaccine schedule, an issue likely to draw scrutiny during confirmation. The policy shift had already sparked debate over the administration’s vaccine agenda.
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