Dr. Heidi Overton, a fierce opponent of abortion rights, is set to appear before senators Thursday for her confirmation hearing to lead the Food and Drug Administration.
The hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee comes as the FDA faces pressure from Republicans, including the committee’s chair, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., to tighten access to the abortion pill mifepristone.
Cassidy, who is a key vote in Overton’s confirmation, has been pushing the administration to reverse a Biden-era rule that allows mifepristone to be prescribed via telemedicine and sent through the mail.
In a committee report published last month, Cassidy accused the makers of mifepristone of failing to meet their legal responsibilities to ensure compliance with FDA safety regulations, particularly when the pills are sold online through third-party providers. At a hearing in January, Cassidy called on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the previous FDA commissioner, Dr. Marty Makary, to complete a safety review that they both promised during their confirmation hearings. In June, the FDA said it launched a new safety study on mifepristone.
Art Caplan, the head of the medical ethics division at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City, said Overton’s views on abortion appear to align with Cassidy’s.
Overton, a preventive medicine physician, currently serves as a domestic policy official in the White House. Prior to that, she worked as chief policy officer at the conservative think tank America First Policy Institute, where she praised the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade and called for strict restrictions on medication abortion, claiming that it is “dangerous to women.” (Studies have shown that the drug, even when taken at home, is safe and effective.)
If confirmed, Overton would take over an agency that has been without a permanent commissioner since Makary resigned in May, in part over the administration’s decision to authorize several fruit-flavored vapes for adults.
As commissioner, Overton would serve as a key ally to Kennedy, whose department oversees the FDA. Overton is a proponent of Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement. She also appeared alongside President Donald Trump in August when he announced an executive order aimed at reducing the number of vaccines routinely recommended for children. Trump nominated her to lead the agency days later.
Senators are likely to grill her about her own views on vaccines, according to Dorit Reiss, a professor of law and vaccine policy expert at the University of California Law San Francisco.
On CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Cassidy — who has also aggressively questioned and pressed several Trump administration nominees on vaccines — said Overton must acknowledge that Trump’s claim that the measles vaccine is lethal is “absurd” when she appears before his committee. Trump made the comment during the August signing of his vaccine executive order.
“I think she made it clear she’s a supporter of Kennedy’s vaccine agenda, at least,” Reiss said. “Dr. Overton seems like another example of an appointee who is, primarily, appointed for political opinions, without an emphasis on qualifications.”
Overton, Reiss said, doesn’t appear to have expertise in clinical trials, managing an agency or any of the products the FDA regulates.
“It’s reasonable for an administration to want someone sympathetic to their views,” Reiss said, “but FDA commissioner is a hard job that requires the ability to manage a large and complex agency that does important work.”
“As an MD/PhD who helped President Trump deliver on Operation Warp Speed during his first term, Dr. Heidi Overton will ensure that policymaking is guided solely by Gold Standard Science at the FDA,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.
Dr. Stephen Ostroff, a former acting FDA commissioner, said food safety will be another major issue waiting for her at the FDA.
The agency has spent much of the summer responding to a series of foodborne illness outbreaks and recalls, including a massive cyclospora outbreak linked to iceberg lettuce that sickened more than 12,000 people across multiple states.
The outbreak has also raised questions about how quickly the FDA can trace contaminated food back to its source and whether the agency has enough staff to respond to outbreaks after thousands of employees left or were laid off over the past year.
“After the experience of the past 18 months, it’s very important to restore public and industry confidence that decisions being made by FDA, including those by leadership, are science-based, transparent and consistent,” Ostroff said.