During the two-hour hearing, Overton cited existing FDA policy or guidance, revealing very little of her own opinions on a host of topics like childhood vaccines and the abortion drug mifepristone.
Despite repeated questioning, Overton wouldn't directly answer whether Trump was wrong in his criticism of vaccines, and declined to say if she would stand up to the president or Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Overton voiced support for established vaccines, seemingly contradicting President Trump, who called the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine "lethal."
“Every vaccine on the market right now are safe and effective,” including the MMR vaccine, Overton said, under questioning from Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.).
But when Cassidy and ranking member Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) asked what she'd do if Trump or Kennedy pushed her to roll back the childhood vaccine schedule, Overton dodged, saying only that she would “follow the law” and the statutory requirements.
Overton is a top domestic policy adviser at the White House and a former chief policy adviser at a conservative think tank. She worked on a variety of administration health initiatives, including an executive order to reduce the number of recommended childhood vaccines and splitting up the MMR shot.
Cassidy previously wrote on social media that Overton’s role in that executive order was “almost disqualifying.”
Overton called that order “historic” and stood beside Trump in the Oval Office when he falsely claimed that the combined MMR shot could be “quite lethal.”
In the hearing, Overton defended the order, saying it would give more options to parents.
Despite expressing support for the MMR shot, Overton did not answer Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) when he asked why she didn't push back on Trump’s statement.
When Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) asked about Trump saying the amount of vaccine children receive is the “size of a bottle of soda,” Overton merely replied that “the products licensed by the FDA are safe and effective.”
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