Trump Expected to Name Heidi Overton as FDA Commissioner
Several reports say President Donald Trump is expected to nominate Heidi Overton, a top aide at the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, to serve as the next commissioner of the FDA. She would succeed Marty Makary, who resigned in May, and she would leapfrog Kyle Diamantas, who has been acting commissioner since.
Overton is a physician who is board-certified in public health and general preventive medicine, and she previously worked at the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank. Some reports say she is well aligned with the Make America Healthy Again movement and Robert Kennedy, secretary of Health & Human Services, who would be her boss.
She has appeared with Trump to announce White House policies but has maintained a low public profile compared with some of Trump’s past FDA commissioners, such as Makary and Scott Gottlieb, who were prolific commentators in the media, according to the Washington Post.
The Post also said the selection process has lasted weeks longer than expected. The administration struggled to fill the open role, with some outside candidates turning it down amid fears of political interference over FDA decisions.
Makary resigned this spring after being pressured from several directions, including President Trump himself. According to several reports, the final straw was his opposition to vaping in general and to the May approval, at the insistence of Trump, of two fruit-flavored vapes, which Makary thought would be attractive to children.
About the Author
Dave Fusaro
Editor in Chief
Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.
