Trump picks Heidi Overton, a top White House aide, to lead the Food and Drug Administration

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that Heidi Overton, a senior White House aide and medical doctor, will be nominated to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Overton is deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council and has worked on health initiatives in Trump’s second term. She would need Senate confirmation and is expected to face competing priorities, including the administration’s push for faster cures and lower drug prices alongside strained dynamics with FDA’s recent leadership. Trump’s pick comes after Marty Makary resigned in May, leaving projects on ultraprocessed foods, antidepressants and COVID-19 shots unresolved. Overton has also criticized abortion pills access.