Trump nominates White House aide Heidi Overton as FDA commissioner

President Donald Trump is reported to be selecting Deputy Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council Heidi Overton, a physician, to be the next FDA commissioner, pending Senate confirmation.

Overton holds a medical degree from the University of New Mexico, completed a general surgery residency at Johns Hopkins, and earned a PhD in clinical investigation from the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Before joining the White House, she was chief policy officer and vice chair for the Center for a Healthy America at the conservative think tank America First Policy Institute.

Analysts at BMO Capital Markets described the late summer nomination as a modest positive, noting that her credentials could help restore predictability and credibility to the agency’s drug review process, which has been strained by recent layoffs and controversial policies.