10
Loading video...
By Hannah Parry
Associate News Editor
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration faced pointed questioning from senators Thursday over the administration’s overhaul of childhood vaccine recommendations, including its proposal to separate the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine into three shots.
Dr. Heidi Overton, a physician and White House domestic policy adviser, was pressed on why she had stood alongside Trump when he signed an August executive order calling for separate MMR vaccinations and broader changes to the childhood vaccine schedule.
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, the committee chairman and a physician who has been publicly critical of the administration's approach to vaccines, demanded to know whether Overton would put scientific standards ahead of the president’s claims about vaccines. He had previously called Overton’s involvement in the MMR order “almost disqualifying."
Read More on Politics
"Dr. Overton, this Committee needs to know whether you will be radically honest," he told Overton. "That you will use your authority to stand up for sound science and protect children’s health. That you will unequivocally say that the MMR vaccine is safe and not lethal. You will also need to ensure that uninformed ideologies do not influence FDA’s decision on whether to approve individual products, even if the president is pressuring."
Cassidy asked Overton what scientific evidence she had personally reviewed showing that separate measles, mumps and rubella vaccines would be safer or more effective than the existing combined MMR vaccine. While Overton did not cite specific evidence, she explained that her White House role was to coordinate an interagency process, gather input from agency experts, and present options to Trump.
...
“My job in my current role is to take the president’s directive, provide options to him,” Overton said.
The Republican senator then turned to the president’s own description of the MMR vaccine. Trump had suggested at the August signing ceremony that the combined shot could be “quite lethal.” Cassidy pressed Overton on whether she would reject that characterization.
"The President called the MMR vaccine 'quite lethal.' Talk about zero scientific evidence," he told Overton at Thursday’s Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing, "And this comes as unvaccinated Americans are being hospitalized and even dying of measles."
“The MMR vaccine is safe and effective,” Overton said, later adding that it was “not lethal.”
Cassidy’s questioning went beyond the safety of MMR. He also asked what Overton would do if Trump directed her to take an action that conflicted with the FDA’s statutory responsibilities. Overton said she would “give him my best advice” and “follow the statutory requirements for the role of FDA commissioner regarding individual product determinations for safety and efficacy.”
The hearing came as the United States is experiencing its largest measles outbreak in decades.
It also underscored the central question of Overton’s nomination: whether she would put the FDA’s scientific and statutory responsibilities ahead of the policy priorities of the White House she has helped advise.
Trump Administration's Change to Vaccine Schedule
In January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adopted a revised childhood immunization framework that divided vaccines into three categories: vaccines recommended for all children, vaccines recommended for certain high-risk groups, and vaccines subject to shared clinical decision-making between patients and clinicians. The first category includes protection against 11 diseases: measles, mumps, rubella, polio, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, Hib, pneumococcal disease, HPV and chickenpox.
In August, Trump signed an executive order that went further. It called for the combined MMR vaccine to be separated into three single-disease shots and recommended administering childhood vaccines during separate medical visits, giving parents greater choice over timing and frequency. The White House said vaccines moved out of the universal category would instead be handled through shared clinical decision-making.
...
But the August order's proposal to split MMR immediately ran into a practical problem: no monovalent measles, mumps or rubella vaccines are currently commercially available in the United States.
Overton acknowledged that during Thursday's hearing. She said that if manufacturers develop and submit applications for individual vaccines, the FDA would review them under its normal safety and efficacy standards. She also acknowledged that developing, testing and obtaining approval for new products could take time. The administration has maintained that the existing MMR vaccine would remain available. Overton repeatedly described it during the hearing as the "best tool" for combating the current measles outbreak and said unvaccinated Americans should receive it.
Democrats Also Press Overton on Trump's Vaccine Stance
The sharpest exchanges came over Trump’s comments about the MMR vaccine and Overton’s role in helping shape the administration’s new childhood vaccine policy.
Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire repeatedly asked Overton whether Trump had been wrong when he suggested that the combined vaccine could be lethal. Overton declined to use those words, instead returning to the position that the MMR vaccine is safe and effective.
Democratic Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts later returned to the exchange, noting that Overton had been standing next to Trump when he made the statement. “When the FDA, science and the president's erroneous scientific claims conflicted as they did that day, which one will you defend?” Markey asked.
...
Overton said she would rely on her “clinical training,” her research experience and the career scientists at the FDA.
Markey pointed out that she had already had an opportunity to correct the president at the August signing ceremony.
“You had a chance last month, and you didn't take it,” Markey said, arguing that Trump had disseminated what he described as erroneous medical information without being corrected by Overton.
Overton again emphasized the administration's stated goal of giving parents additional options while maintaining the existing MMR vaccine. “The MMR vaccine is safe and effective,” she said. “Every American that is unvaccinated should get it.” She added that the vaccine is “not lethal.”
Hassan also questioned her about Trump's earlier comments linking acetaminophen, commonly sold as Tylenol, to autism. Overton said she had seen no current evidence establishing a causal relationship between Tylenol and autism, but again declined to directly say that Trump had been wrong when he advised pregnant women to avoid the drug.
Mifepristone Becomes Another Flashpoint
Senators also questioned Overton extensively about mifepristone, the abortion medication, and an FDA safety review now underway.
Overton, an abortion opponent, has previously criticized the FDA’s handling of mifepristone while working at the America First Policy Institute, including the decision to allow the drug to be dispensed by mail. In a 2023 policy brief, she argued for tighter safeguards and described mail-order access as “chemical abortion on demand.”
At the hearing, Overton said mifepristone had met the FDA’s safety and efficacy standards under its current labeling. “Right now there has not been a change to the label,” she said, while stressing that the ongoing safety review was “very important.”
Democrats focused on whether political pressure from the Trump administration could influence the FDA’s scientific review of the drug. Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin said she was concerned about “political pressure that does come to bear on the scientific review process.”
Related Story
Map Shows US Measles Cases As Airport Warning Issued
Related Story
A Vaccine to Lower Dementia Risk May Be Coming. Would You Take It?
Hassan also pressed Overton on whether she would follow scientific and legal standards if they conflicted with the president’s wishes. “If directed by the president to take action that would break the law, would you follow the law or follow the president's directive?” Hassan asked.
“I will follow the law if I'm confirmed as FDA commissioner,” Overton replied.
Republicans took a different approach to mifepristone, pressing Overton on whether the FDA should investigate manufacturers and whether changes made to the drug’s risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, or REMS, had received adequate safety analysis.
Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, a staunch abortion opponent, argued that the Biden administration’s changes had removed important safeguards and repeatedly asked Overton whether she agreed that the previous REMS had not received adequate safety testing. Overton stopped short of endorsing that characterization.
Instead, she repeatedly returned to the need for an updated FDA review. “If I'm confirmed, the ongoing safety review is a critical piece for the FDA,” Overton said. “There has not been an internal safety review since that change was made."
Food Safety Emerges as a Major Concern
Food safety also emerged as a major concern, with senators pressing Overton on FDA staffing, foodborne-illness outbreaks and the agency’s ability to maintain inspections.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut pointed to what he described as a sharp increase in reported foodborne illnesses alongside a shrinking FDA workforce. He said FDA reports showed foodborne outbreak cases in 2026 at “16 times the reported cases from 2025” and that the number of federal food inspectors was at its lowest level since 2005.
Murphy also said Overton would inherit an agency that had lost roughly 4,500 employees, or about 20 percent of its workforce, since the beginning of the Trump administration.
“You will have your hands full if you're confirmed,” Murphy told her, citing “dramatic increases in foodborne illness” and a “dramatic shrinking in staff.” He did not ask Overton to respond directly to those figures.
The FDA's current outbreak database lists multiple active investigations, including outbreaks involving E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella and Cyclospora.
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska separately pressed Overton on funding for state and local food inspectors, particularly in Alaska, which relies on state inspectors working under FDA agreements.
“I just need your commitment” that the FDA would maintain those contracts, Murkowski said.
“Yes, Senator, I will work with you on that,” Overton replied, promising to ensure the agency was “following the law” and directing resources to Alaska.
Flavored Vapes Among Other Hearing Clashes
Flavored e-cigarettes were another major point of contention, as senators questioned the FDA’s decision earlier this year to authorize new flavored vaping products.
Senator Tammy Baldwin, Democrat of Wisconsin, pressed Overton on the popularity of flavored vaping products among young people and whether that evidence should factor into future FDA authorization decisions. Overton said protecting children from nicotine was “a core priority” and that “we should not have nicotine in the hands of kids,” but the committee moved on before she could give a fuller answer.
Another Democratic senator challenged Overton over reports that the Trump administration was considering changes that could speed authorization of additional tobacco products, including flavored vapes and nicotine pouches.
“I am not aware of that decision-making. Since I've been nominated to the role, I've not been involved in that," Overton said.
Who is Heidi Overton? What to Know About Trump's FDA Nominee
Overton is a physician who currently serves as a deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy. Before joining the Trump administration, she held a leadership role at the America First Policy Institute, a conservative policy organization, where she was chief policy officer of its Center for a Healthy America. She also worked in the Trump administration.
She holds a medical degree from the University of New Mexico and a Ph.D. in clinical investigation from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Overton has played a role in the administration's health-policy process, including the effort to revise childhood vaccine recommendations. At Thursday's hearing, she described that role as coordinating interagency input and presenting options to the president.
The nomination comes as the FDA faces a period of significant disruption. The agency has been without a permanent commissioner since Marty Makary resigned in May, and Reuters reported before the hearing that the agency had lost thousands of employees over the preceding year.
If confirmed, Overton would inherit responsibility for an agency confronting disputes over vaccines, tobacco products, mifepristone, food safety and the role of political leadership in scientific regulatory decisions.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Gray R. Thomas
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines