Trump
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks as President Donald Trump, left, and Heidi Overton, deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, listen during a meeting to sign an executive order about vaccines, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington.
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President Donald Trump has picked Dr. Heidi Overton to lead the Food and Drug Administration. Overton is a deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council and a trusted figure in Trump's administration. Overton has worked on several of Trump's health initiatives. But the new FDA commissioner will face challenges balancing Trump's priorities, traditional Republican interests and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s anti-corporate stance. Overton will need Senate confirmation and face questions from the Senate health committee. The previous FDA head, Dr. Marty Makary, resigned in May, leaving unfinished projects like work on ultra-processed foods, antidepressants and COVID-19 shots.
