President Donald Trump has nominated White House health policy aide Heidi Overton to lead the Food and Drug Administration, putting a physician with close ties to the administration in line to inherit an agency still dealing with leadership turnover and a tobacco program in the middle of major changes.
Trump announced the selection on Aug. 19, according to Reuters. Overton is deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council and previously worked at the America First Policy Institute. She must be confirmed by the Senate before taking over permanently. Until then, Kyle Diamantas remains acting commissioner, a role the FDA says he has held since May 15.
Overton would replace Marty Makary, who resigned in May after about 13 months as commissioner. His departure came during a turbulent stretch for the agency, but vaping policy was also shifting in ways that matter directly to manufacturers and consumers.
On May 7, FDA Center for Tobacco Products Acting Director Bret Koplow announced new steps to accelerate premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) reviews. The agency said it eliminated its acceptance-review queue, sped up filing reviews, and developed a faster process for some supplemental applications. Koplow also said the agency wanted products that meet the statutory public-health standard to reach adult tobacco users who may use them to reduce their risks.
A day later, the FDA issued new enforcement guidance covering unauthorized electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and oral nicotine pouch products. The policy says the agency will generally not prioritize enforcement against certain products with pending, accepted applications, while continuing to target products with features the FDA considers especially appealing to youth.
Those changes were a notable break from years of a tobacco regulatory system that often left manufacturers waiting through long reviews while most vapor products remained unauthorized. A confirmed Overton would decide whether to continue that direction, revise it, or push the Center for Tobacco Products toward another strategy.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will be the first major hurdle. The committee, chaired by Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, handled Makary's nomination in 2025 before sending it to the full Senate.
For the vaping industry, the key question is how Overton will shape policies and regulatory processes already underway. PMTA review, flavored-product policy, and enforcement priorities are all moving targets, and the next commissioner will have considerable influence over where they land.
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