United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

The rejection comes after the House has three times voted to end the war that's largely blamed for a spike in fuel prices and has become a flashpoint in the midterm election.

Senate Health Committee spent around two hours Thursday questioning Dr. Heidi Overton, President Trump's nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration.

Here's NPR's Sydney Lupkin.

Senators asked Overton about her views on vaccines, the abortion pill mifepristone, food safety, and whether she'll be able to tell the president when he is wrong.

I was in the room where the thing was happening, and we included a provision in those reforms that said that certain folks, big institutions, what was called eligible contract participants, could enter into swaps both on an exchange and off an exchange.

This was a big debate, and there were people like Senator Tom Harkin, who chaired the Senate Ag Committee and then moved on to chair the Senate Health Committee.

Tom said nobody should trade these things off exchange, and we had to convince Senator Harkin, no, the big institutions should be able to do interest rate swaps even if they were bilateral.

But the compromise was that non-eligible contract participants, you might call it the retail public, but I would note you had to have $10 million of liquid assets to be an eligible contract participant.

That's right, Alex.

Dr. Heidi Overton, President Trump's nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration, testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee facing questions on vaccines, abortion pills and food safety.

Her first answer broke with the president.

Overton told committee chairman Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is not lethal and that every vaccine on the U.S. market right now is safe and effective.

Overton, a physician, stood beside Trump in the Oval Office when he falsely remarked that the combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine could be quite lethal.

Senate Health Committee Chairman Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician from Louisiana, pushed Overton to reject that statement and affirm the safety of FDA-approved vaccines.

"Right now, every vaccine that is on the market has been determined to be safe and effective, including the MMR vaccine," Overton said.

Cassidy has repeatedly tried to extract commitments from Trump health nominees to uphold vaccine standards, including from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., only to see the Republican administration push forward with efforts undermining their use.

Today is September 25th, 2026.

We're going to discuss the key takeaways from FDA Commissioner nominee Heidi Overton's confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

as well as look forward at her prospects for actually obtaining the job.

Just a reminder to hit the like and subscribe buttons on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to make sure you're getting every episode.

I want to flag for our listeners who are listening on Friday that there were two confirmation hearings this week.

Dr. Heidi Overton is being questioned in front of the Senate Health Committee to be the FDA commissioner, and Nicole Safier is being questioned to be the next Surgeon General.

As of the recording of this podcast, we don't know what happened in those committee hearings, but we will talk about it at the next episode.

And these are both controversial picks.

Today is September 25th, 2026.

We're going to discuss the key takeaways from FDA Commissioner nominee Heidi Overton's confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

as well as look forward at her prospects for actually obtaining the job.

Just a reminder to hit the like and subscribe buttons on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to make sure you're getting every episode.

On the Hill, a woman nominated to lead the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Heidi Overton, told senators Thursday she has no problem with zero safeguards for the mail-order shipment of chemical abortion pills, despite ongoing lawsuits and studies that reveal the drug's dangers to women.

Overton, who is seeking to become the youngest FDA commissioner in history, testified Thursday morning before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, or HELP Committee, which will vote later this fall on her nomination.

If she passes the HELP Committee, she will then appear before the full Senate, which will also consider whether to approve her for the post.

Senator Hawley told me that Overton's defense of Mifepristone, the chemical abortion drug, is inconsistent with the FDA's previous statements before the Senate and in court.