Trump nominates anti-abortion White House aide as next FDA commissioner
President Donald Trump has selected his new U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, nominating Heidi Overton, MD, PhD—an anti-abortion activist and supporter of the broader Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, spearheaded by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
If confirmed by the Senate, Overton would replace Marty Makary, MD, who resigned from the post in May after disputes with the White House, pharmaceutical CEOs, vaping lobbyists and anti-abortion groups, a report from the Associated Press revealed.
Makary held the role for 13 months.
In announcing his potential replacement, Trump pointed to Overton’s history of working closely with Kennedy and Mehmet Oz, MD, the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in her current role as a White House aide.
“Today I am honored to nominate the wonderful Dr. Heidi Overton, MD, PhD, as our next FDA Commissioner. Dr. Heidi has been a rockstar in my administration, where she has worked directly with Secretary Kennedy, Dr. Oz, and team, to deliver on the most transformative health agenda in history,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “She is known to take on the hardest issues, and bring me solutions that work best for the country.”
The president framed Overton as the best person for the job, ready to push for the faster approval of new drugs, something the industry has long advocated for.
“She is smart and respected by all! Dr. Heidi will work with Secretary Kennedy and Dr. Oz to rapidly deliver on my priorities of faster cures, increased American innovation, major clinical trial reforms, lower drug prices—and even more MAHA wins!,” he added.
Overton enters at a critical time for the FDA, where the agency has undergone restructuring amid massive job cuts in 2025 at the hands of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
As part of its role in regulating medical devices and drugs, the agency also has been asked to make a decision about use of the abortion drug mifepristone, which is currently being mailed from states where it is legal and sent to others where terminating a pregnancy is a crime.
‘America First’ advocate
Overton has worked with the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank whose agenda includes voter ID laws, more funding for law enforcement, and nationwide bans on abortion.
On the latter point, Overton authored a 2023 brief for the group titled “Risking Two Lives—The Dangerous Rise of Chemical Abortion,” where she made her position on mifepristone clear: “Policy solutions should seek to protect the two lives at stake—the woman and the baby—and include additional safety protections for women who require in-person evaluations to determine clinical appropriateness.”
Overton referred to prescribing and mailing the pills across state lines as “Skype abortions,” calling on the federal government to end the practice.
If confirmed by the Senate, she would be in a position to potentially do exactly that, as the FDA sets parameters for how all drugs, including those used for early term abortions, are prescribed and marketed in the U.S.
She also has vocally lent her support to a change to the "Gold Standard” vaccination policy, a proposal from Kennedy’s HHS that would limit the inoculations necessary for school admissions.
Her confirmation hearing has yet to be scheduled, but given the Republican majority in Congress, it’s unlikely she will be rejected.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.