Dr. Heidi Overton, President Trump's nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration, carefully navigated a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, avoiding direct answers on vaccines and abortion while facing sharp questioning from both parties.
During the session before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Overton affirmed the safety of existing vaccines, including the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) shot, which Trump has falsely called "lethal." She described the MMR vaccine as "the best public health tool" to combat the ongoing measles outbreak, but stopped short of explicitly rebuking the president's remarks.
Committee Chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a physician who has demanded that Overton repudiate Trump's comments, pressed her on whether she would resist presidential pressure. Overton responded that she would "follow the statutory requirements" of the FDA commissioner role and give the president her best advice, but did not commit to overruling him.
Cassidy, who cast the decisive vote to confirm HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., expressed frustration that previous guarantees from administration officials were later reversed. He has not yet indicated how he will vote on Overton, but her confirmation likely hinges on unified Republican support in the committee.
Overton, currently a top domestic policy adviser at the White House and a former conservative think tank official, helped craft an executive order aimed at reducing recommended childhood vaccines—a move she called "historic." She stood beside Trump when he made the baseless claim about the MMR vaccine's lethality.
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) challenged Overton on Trump's assertion that Tylenol causes autism when taken during pregnancy. Overton said she had seen no evidence supporting that claim, but again declined to label the president's statement as false—a stance Hassan warned could endanger public health.
On abortion, Overton, who is openly anti-abortion and celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade, refused to say whether she believes mifepristone is safe, citing the ongoing FDA safety review of the drug. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) highlighted Overton's 2023 policy paper warning about "chemical abortions," but Overton noted that mifepristone has met FDA standards.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who supports abortion rights, expressed concern that the mifepristone review is politically motivated, noting the drug's long history of safe use. The review's initial findings are expected within weeks.
If confirmed, Overton would lead an agency facing significant staff departures and criticism over politicization. She would inherit contentious policies, including the mifepristone review and new rules easing flavored e-cigarette approvals, while balancing the demands of the MAHA movement and the MAGA base.
