A Senate committee spent two hours questioning President Trump’s nominee to be commissioner of the FDA, but only about 10 minutes of the session touched on food.
A New Mexico doctor, Heidi Overton, is Trump’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration. Overton is currently Deputy Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. Previously she was chief policy officer and vice chair for the Center for a Healthy America at the conservative think tank America First Policy Institute. She will succeed acting chief Kyle Diamantas who was appointed to the post on an interim basis following Marty Makary's resignation.
Recently, Overton served as a White House Fellow in 2019-2020 in both the Office of American Innovation and the Domestic Policy Council. She is board-certified in public health and general preventive medicine.
Overton does not have any experience with food policy or the food industry.
The lion’s share of Overton’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee involved prescription drugs, flavored vapes, vaccinations and mifepristone. Some of the senators used the bulk of their time making statements rather than asking questions.
Of the 16 senators on the committee, 10 did not mention food at all. The FDA has the responsibility to oversee 80 percent of the nation’s food supply.
In her statement to the committee, Overton took a few seconds to mention food and the FDA’s responsibility to make sure it is safe.
The committee’s Ranking Member Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-VT, spent the most time of any of the committee members on food. He discussed the FDA’s responsibility to investigate outbreaks and oversee recalls. He asked Overton if she would work to remove junk foods from television, but he was out of time and Overton could not answer.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-WA, stated concern about the Cyclospora outbreak this summer, as well as the number of recalls overall. She also expressed concerns about staff cuts at the FDA. Murray asked Overton if she knew how many people are employed in the FDA’s Human Foods Program. Overton did not know. Murray then asked Overton if she knew the name of the FDA’s operation that investigates outbreaks. Overton did not know.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-WI, asked Overton about labeling on non-dairy products. She specifically expressed concern about the use of the word “milk” on such products and asked Overton what she would do about it. Overton said would “look at it.”
Sen. Jim Banks, R-IN, asked about Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) food additives and whether the FDA has enough resources to review such substances. Overton said the agency does not. Banks also asked about individual states passing laws about foods and Overton said there needs to be uniformity in such matters.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-AK, said she wants there to be science-based information about genetically engineered organisms, specifically mentioning salmon. Overton agreed that such products should have clear labeling. Murkowski also expressed concern about federal funding cuts for state and local food safety efforts. Overton said she would work with Murkowski to address the issue. The FDA is not involved in the allocation of funding.
Sen. Tom Kaine, D-VA, did not ask Overton about the food operations of the FDA, rather he made statements about the general state of food safety in the agency. He noted that the agency has cut much of its food safety staff. He also noted a 16-fold increase in the number of foodborne illnesses.
Senators who did not mention food at all during Overton’s hearing were:
- Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-LA
- Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME
- Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-AL
- Sen. Chris Murphy, D-CT
- Sen. Ashley Moody, R-FL
- Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-NH
- Sen. Lise Blunt Rochester, D-DE
- Sen. Josh Hawley, R-MO
- Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-MD
- Sen. Ed Markey, D-MA
