Washington DC - President Donald Trump reportedly plans to nominate Dr. Heidi Overton, a White House domestic policy aide, to become the new US Food and Drug Administration commissioner.
Overton is a physician, board-certified in public health and general preventative medicine, who currently serves as Trump's deputy assistant for domestic policy.
She previously worked as the chief policy officer at the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank. Close to Trump since his first administration, she is known for staunch anti-abortion views and a close association with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Two senior administration officials told the New York Times (NYT) that Trump now intends to nominate her to replace Dr. Marty Makary, who resigned as FDA commissioner in May over pressure to allow tobacco and vape companies to sell flavored vapes.
Overton stood by Trump in the Oval Office last week as he and RFK Jr. unveiled an executive order further limiting required childhood vaccinations.
"These are the Gold Standard childhood vaccine recommendations, and you should put this into your state law so that when parents go to enroll their kids in school, they do not have to meet some of the requirements for the vaccines that are no longer recommended for all children," Overton said.
"We do still recommend the measles vaccine for all children, but we want parents to be informed about the timing and to have the option to separate them out."
Her nomination would anger health professionals, who are already concerned about RFK Jr.'s MAHA agenda.
"Overton has degrees but seemingly no real experience running anything," Chris Meekins, a former Trump health official, told Axios.
"Her claim to fame is having been a Makary protege who has bought further into antiscience and anti-vaccine messaging of elements of MAHA," he said.
"Industry will view this pick as extremely troublesome and FDA career staff will continue to flee the agency."