The Senate’s top health committee is expected to consider President Trump’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration just weeks before the November elections, a move that reopens the conversation on abortion as voters turn their full attention to candidates struggling to survive a tough midterm cycle.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee is planning to hold a nomination hearing for Heidi Overton as soon as next Thursday, according to a GOP senator on the panel and a source familiar with the hearing’s details. Scheduling for the nomination could change, sources warn, as the hearing has not been publicly posted.
“The committee received her paperwork and is working with the administration to schedule a hearing,” a committee spokesperson confirmed to National Journal in a written statement.
The nomination hearing is all but certain to focus on the issue of abortion just weeks before the November elections, as questions loom over the agency’s safety review of mifepristone, an abortion drug that’s used in combination with misoprostol.
Trump has publicly pushed for Senate Republicans to confirm the nominee before the 2026 elections—though doing so would force members of the party to grapple with the issue ahead of some vulnerable senators’ reelection bids.
Sens. Susan Collins and Jon Husted, two Republican members on the HELP Committee, are both in tough reelection battles.
If confirmed, Overton, currently Trump’s deputy assistant for domestic policy, will be in charge of helming an agency that has gone without a Senate-confirmed leader since May.
Former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary resigned after clashes with the administration over authorization of fruit-flavored e-cigarettes. Makary’s run at the agency was marked by chaos, as many of his ambitious but ill-fated efforts put him at odds with the food and drug industries. His term also saw a number of departures and personnel drama.
Overton, a physician, will be expected to calm the waters. But her confirmation will be all but smooth sailing.
As director of the Center for a Healthy America at the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute, Overton has advocated against the use of abortion drugs in past policy briefs, writing that abortion “is corrosive to children, women, and society broadly because it devalues and extinguishes innocent human life.”
Following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Overton celebrated the ruling, calling it a “huge victory for life.”
These public stances are likely to ward off any potential Democratic support. Sen. Patty Murray has already declared she’s a “no” on the nominee.
But these views could also complicate her support among more-moderate Republicans, such as Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who have advocated for abortion access in the past.
On the flip side, other senators on the committee are staunchly for pulling FDA approval of mifepristone. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican who has heavily criticized Makary for slow-walking the FDA’s safety review of the abortion drug, told National Journal that the issue is a huge priority for him.
“The last guy at FDA did tremendous damage,” Hawley said. “And part of what the next FDA head is going to need to do is repair a lot of mistrust, and broken promises, and bad blood that now exists with the life movement on this.”
Overton has been involved in advancing a number of Trump’s health care priorities, playing a significant behind-the-scenes role in shepherding the president’s most-favored-nation drug-pricing deals and shrinking the child vaccine schedule.
She was also involved in crafting the White House’s executive order that would reduce the number of recommended vaccines children receive while also separating the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine into three separate shots.
Her involvement in those issues could create conflict with HELP Chair Bill Cassidy.
“Dr. Overton’s active role in last week’s nonsensical vaccine executive order calls into question her commitment to standing up for sound science and protecting children’s health,” the chairman said in a statement on X last month. “That alone is almost disqualifying.”
On Monday, Cassidy confirmed to National Journal that he had met with Overton earlier in the month and discussed vaccine policy, calling the meeting “very cordial.” However, the senator—a liver doctor and staunch vaccine supporter—has refused to comment on whether he’ll vote for the nominee.
The nomination could bring new energy into camps on opposite sides of the abortion issue. While it has not been a prominent issue heading into the midterms, some antiabortion groups see Overton's nomination igniting the base.
“Dr. Overton’s nomination is definitely promising, especially when paired with the confirmation of Attorney General Todd Blanche,” said Gavin Oxley, a spokesperson for Americans United for Life. “This seems like the pieces are being put on the board, and that's naturally going to energize the pro-life movement, especially when we've seen a lot of stagnation over the first half of the second Trump administration.”
Antiabortion groups have criticized the administration for not doing enough to restrict abortion, criticizing figures like Makary for slow-walking the FDA’s safety study on mifepristone.
Blanche had pledged to faith leaders that he was planning on taking action to restrict abortion access across the nation, pointing to specific restrictions on telehealth prescriptions and the delivery of abortion pills across state lines, according to a report from Politico.
These statements led Murkowski and Collins to vote against Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general.
And reproductive-rights groups are expected to pressure senators to vote against Overton’s nomination over her record.
“Heidi Overton has longstanding ties to antiabortion groups and a record of pushing antiabortion policies that voters don’t support,” said Mini Timmaraju, president of Reproductive Freedom for All. “If Trump’s allies move to confirm this dangerous nominee ahead of midterm elections, they will answer to voters come November.”
