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By Jesse Jones, The Paper. & New Mexico Political Report — A Gallup native is in line to become one of the country’s top health officials after President Donald Trump nominated Dr. Heidi Overton to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Overton has deep academic and civic ties to N.M. She graduated from Gallup High School before entering the University of New Mexico as a Regent’s Scholar and student in the university’s Combined Bachelor of Arts/Doctor of Medicine Degree Program. She graduated summa cum laude in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in health, medicine and human values. She earned her medical degree from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in 2015. Former Gov. Susana Martinez appointed Overton as a student regent on the University of New Mexico Board of Regents, where she served from 2013 to 2015 and opposed tuition hikes. She later completed a general surgery residency and earned a doctorate in clinical investigation from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Overton’s federal career began as a White House Fellow from 2019 to 2020, when she worked in the Office of American Innovation and the Domestic Policy Council. She later served as chief policy officer and vice chair of the Center for a Healthy America at the America First Policy Institute, where she focused on health policy. She joined the Trump administration in January 2025 as deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy, where she has helped carry out White House health initiatives with the Department of Health and Human Services. If confirmed, Overton would replace Dr. Marty Makary, who resigned as FDA commissioner in May after about a 13-month tenure.
Trump nominated Overton to lead the FDA on Wednesday, referring to her as “Dr. Heidi” in a Truth Social post and calling her a “rockstar” in his administration. He praised her work with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, saying she would help advance his priorities of “faster cures, increased American innovation, major clinical trial reforms” and lower drug prices.
The New Mexico Senate and House Republican caucuses congratulated Overton on Wednesday, calling her nomination a proud moment for N.M. as she heads toward Senate confirmation.