Trump Picks Heidi Overton To FDA, Awards Autograph for Anti-Science Enthusiasm

KEY POINTS

•President Trump nominated White House aide Heidi Overton to be FDA commissioner after Marty Makary left earlier in 2026.
•Overton appeared at an event pushing an executive order to split up the MMR vaccine, angering Senate health committee chair Bill Cassidy.
•Analysts say Overton lacks running experience and could scare off industry and career FDA staff, while a health institute president praised her dedication.

In a plot twist Instagram influencers would envy, President Trump nominated White House aide Heidi Overton—her claim to fame mainly being ex-FDA boss Marty Makary's protege and anti-vaccine whisperer—to wrangle the FDA after Makary's 2026 exit left the agency wobbling like a toddler on a sugar rush. Overton’s starring role in last week's executive order to split the MMR vaccine into three separate jabs has senators and pharma execs clutching their pearls. Raymond James analyst and former Trump health guy Chris Meekins described her as a diploma holder with 'no real experience running anything,' while Paragon Health's Brian Blase swore she was a saint devoted to American wellness. Meanwhile, Senate heavyweight Bill Cassidy calls the vaccine shakeup 'wrong,' setting the stage for nominational fireworks hotter than a Texas BBQ in August.