Trump Names White House Aide Heidi Overton as FDA Commissioner Nominee

President Donald Trump has named Heidi Overton, a physician and White House aide, as his pick to lead the US Food and Drug Administration, RAPS reported. Trump made the announcement on his Truth Social account on August 19, and the nomination is subject to Senate confirmation.

Overton is deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, where she has worked on several of the administration's health initiatives, AABB reported. If confirmed, she would take over from Kyle Diamantas, JD, who has served as acting commissioner of food and drugs since May. The post was previously held by Marty Makary, who left the agency in May, according to RAPS.

Background

Before joining the second Trump administration, Overton was chief policy officer and vice chair of the Center for a Healthy America at the America First Policy Institute, according to AABB, and she was a White House fellow during the first Trump administration. RAPS, citing her AFPI profile, reported that she was a general surgery resident at Johns Hopkins University, where she also earned a PhD in clinical investigation, and that she graduated from medical school at the University of New Mexico.

In his post, Trump wrote that Overton "has worked directly with Secretary Kennedy, Dr. Oz, and team, to deliver on the MOST TRANSFORMATIVE health agenda in history," according to RAPS. He described her as someone who takes on the hardest issues and said the agency needed her leadership now.

RAPS noted that the FDA has spent much of the past year managing job cuts and disease outbreaks, and that Overton recently appeared with Trump at a press conference about an executive order to separate the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three individual shots.

Device industry reaction

Scott Whitaker, president and CEO of the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), said the group supports the nomination, RAPS reported. "We look forward to continuing our work with FDA under Dr. Overton's leadership if she is confirmed by the Senate," Whitaker said.

Whitaker tied the group's support to the work of the FDA's device center. "It is essential that we continue the progress we have made to ensure that transparency, consistency, and predictability remain the hallmarks of the review process at CDRH," he said, referring to the Center for Devices and Radiological Health. He also praised Diamantas for his "steady leadership" during the transition, according to RAPS.

The nomination now goes to the Senate. Until a commissioner is confirmed, Diamantas continues as acting commissioner, the role he has held since May, according to AABB.