Marty Makary's time leading the FDA and Heidi Overton's nomination to succeed him
Overview · reviewed October 28, 2026
Dr. Marty Makary, a surgeon who drew national attention for opposing vaccine mandates during the pandemic, led the Food and Drug Administration from 2025 until he left the Trump administration in May 2026.[1][2]In August President Donald Trump chose White House aide Dr. Heidi Overton to succeed him, and she faced a Senate confirmation hearing in September.[3][4]
Follow this story to see new developments when you return.
In August President Donald Trump chose White House aide Dr. Heidi Overton to succeed him, and she faced a Senate confirmation hearing in September.[3][4]
Coverage over time
Share of tracked outlets · weekly (UTC)
23%0%
Nov 20242026this week
LeftCenterRightLighter bar: this week so far
Each bar is the share of the outlets on our Left / Center / Right rating scale that we tracked publishing that week which carried reporting on this story, split by the outlets' ratings. We track more outlets now than in the archive, so a share keeps earlier and later weeks comparable. An outlet counts once a week however much it published, and outlets in one ownership or syndication group count as one on each side they appear on. A rating describes the outlet, not the report. A gap means no such reports were collected that week, not that nothing was reported anywhere. Weeks run Monday to Sunday in UTC, so a report published on a Sunday evening in US Eastern time counts in the next week. 2 more outlets off the scale (not rated, or outside the left-right graphs) also reported; they are not in this chart. See them.
Weekly counts, outlets and reports (6 weeks with coverage)
Outlets on the rating scale that carried this story each week, of the outlets tracked that week, newest first
Week of (UTC)
Left
Center
Right
Of tracked
Share
Receipts
Sep 21, 2026
12
25
3
40 of 479
8%
Aug 17, 2026
15
27
5
47 of 464
10%
May 11, 2026
13
18
9
40 of 176
23%
May 4, 2026
4
1
3
8 of 175
5%
Mar 24, 2025
0
2
1
3 of 194
2%
Nov 18, 2024
1
4
4
9 of 225
4%
Latest coverage
The newest reporting in this story's record.
Sep 23, 2026 · first reported · Headline from Federal News Network
Trump nominated Makary, a former Johns Hopkins surgeon, in November 2024,[1] and he was seen as less controversial than some of Trump's other health picks.[5] His exit in May 2026 left the agency in turmoil.[2][3] Overton, who had held a powerful but largely behind-the-scenes role, faced questions about vaccines at her hearing, weeks after standing behind Trump as he suggested a shot could be "quite lethal."[4][6]
