Stories

Browse major news stories and see what officials have said.

Sep 24, 2026· Updated

Trump Nominates White House Aide Heidi Overton to Run the FDA Nine Days After She Helped Write the Childhood Vaccine Order — and the Republican Chairman of the Senate Health Committee Calls That "Almost Disqualifying"

On August 19, 2026, President Trump announced on Truth Social that he was nominating Dr. Heidi Overton — a physician and deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council — as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, filling the vacancy left when Marty Makary was forced out in May after 13 months. Trump called her a "ROCKSTAR" and said she would work with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz to deliver "faster Cures, increased American Innovation, major Clinical Trial Reforms, lower Drug Prices, and even more MAHA wins." Kennedy said Overton brings "exceptional judgment, professionalism, discipline." Speaker Mike Johnson called her "a woman of deep faith, an accomplished physician and a champion of the America First agenda." The trouble came from her own party's health chairman. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the physician who chairs the Senate HELP Committee and who had already called Trump's August 10 childhood vaccine executive order "a stupid thing to do," said he had "strong concerns" about Overton — citing both her lack of managerial experience and her "active role in last week's nonsensical vaccine executive order," which he said "alone is almost disqualifying." Democrats attacked her record on abortion. Overton has written that abortion is "corrosive" to women and, in a 2023 brief, called the prescribing and mailing of abortion pills across state lines "Skype abortions" and urged the federal government to end the practice. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a HELP Committee member, called her "a far-right, anti-abortion extremist who has no business leading the FDA" and said she would vote no. With a 53-seat majority, Senate Republicans can lose only three votes. Overton's confirmation runs through Cassidy's committee.

“We're going to be in a very challenging position in a very rural state like Alaska if in fact the move to require in-person dispensing of the medication as opposed to telehealth appointments is the direction.”
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) · Sep 24, 2026

A Republican Senator Has Frozen Every One of Trump’s Postal Board Nominees Ten Weeks Before a Mail-Heavy Midterm — and Says He Will Not Lift the Hold Until Service Matches "the Days of the Pony Express"

Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota has placed a blanket hold on every one of President Trump's nominees to the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors, blocking floor confirmation of the entire slate. His grievance is service, not politics: first-class mail that is supposed to arrive in three days is taking closer to ten in South Dakota, veterans' prescriptions arrive late or not at all, and bills reach constituents on the day they are due. Rounds announced the holds on Aug. 12 alongside a bill to strip bonuses from USPS executives, and on Aug. 21 told the Postal Service he would release the hold only when service "returns to levels at least equal to the days of the Pony Express." By Aug. 28 USPS had told the South Dakota delegation it would upgrade its Sioux Falls facility, and Rounds's office said it was in talks with the White House. The hold lands on a slate that is already contested for a different reason. Trump has nominated only Republicans to a board that has been bipartisan by tradition, and in July the Homeland Security Committee's ranking Democrat, Gary Peters, asked Chairman Rand Paul to freeze the nominees until the administration puts forward Democratic names as well. Two nominees, Jeffrey Brodsky and William Gallo, were otherwise headed for a floor vote.

“It is my intent to only release this blanket hold when my concerns are fully resolved by USPS leadership and service returns to levels at least equal to the days of the Pony Express.”
Mike Rounds (R-SD) · Aug 21, 2026

Senate Confirms Jay Clayton as Director of National Intelligence on a Party-Line 51-47 Vote

The Senate confirmed Walter "Jay" Clayton III as Director of National Intelligence on the evening of Tuesday, July 28, 2026, by a party-line vote of 51-47 with no Democrats voting in favor. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence had advanced the nomination 9-8 on July 21. Clayton, a former SEC chairman and U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, replaces Bill Pulte, whose temporary appointment following Tulsi Gabbard's resignation had drawn sharp Democratic criticism. Majority Leader John Thune and Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton pointed to Clayton's prosecutorial record, including terrorism cases and the indictment of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Democrats objected to his committee testimony, particularly his answers about subpoenas issued in connection with New York Times reporting and about the 2020 election; Sen. Ron Wyden said there were credible allegations Clayton had provided false testimony. Vice Chairman Mark Warner, who had worked with Clayton at the SEC, said he came away from the process with serious reservations about whether Clayton would resist political pressure.

“Jay Clayton’s record inspires confidence in the type of DNI that he will be.”
John Thune (R-SD) · Jul 28, 2026