As the leadership vacuum at the top of the FDA looks poised to close with President Donald Trump’s nominee pick for a replacement commissioner, the agency is reportedly weighing whether to add two new deputy posts under that role.
The pair of deputy commissioner roles being considered—which would ultimately report to FDA chief nominee Heidi Overton, M.D., Ph.D., if she is confirmed—are focusing on technology and the role artificial intelligence can play in health, as well as drugs, CNBC first reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the plan.
No final determinations have been made about the potential roles, CNBC caveated.
The HHS did not immediately respond to Fierce’s request for comment on the report.
As it stands, senior advisor to the FDA Jared Seehafer appears to be the heir apparent for the technology deputy role, per CNBC’s sources. He moved over to the FDA in his advisory position about a year ago and is also the co-founder and former CEO of life sciences compliance software company Enzyme, the news service pointed out.
Regarding Kyle Diamantas, previously the deputy commissioner for food before stepping up as acting FDA commissioner earlier this year, it isn’t clear if he will be re-slotted into that deputy position once permanent leadership is reestablished.
CNBC said that it did not learn of any specific candidates for the drugs-focused deputy commissioner role.
Meanwhile, details on the exact responsibilities of the new deputy roles were limited.
The deputy commissioner for technology would specifically oversee both the agency’s use of AI internally and its review of products leveraging the technology, the news outlet wrote.
Amid a mounting slate of controversies and high-profile departures throughout 2025 and into early 2026, former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, M.D., stepped down in May, kicking off a new search for the agency’s permanent leader.
Makary had faced reported pushback from the Trump administration for resisting the president’s campaign to clear fruit-flavored e-cigarettes, as well as criticism from anti-abortion groups over his handling of investigations and restrictions involving the abortion pill mifepristone. He also faced broader criticism outside the administration over the FDA’s handling of recent approval decisions.
Some three months on, Trump earlier this month announced Overton as his pick as the regulator’s next leader.
Currently a White House aide, Overton received her medical degree from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine before acquiring a doctorate in clinical investigation from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
After serving as a White House fellow in Trump’s first term, Overton pivoted to right-wing think tank America First Policy Institute in 2021, where she directed the MAHA-adjacent Center for a Healthy America and served as chief policy officer.
Overton rejoined the White House after Trump won reelection in 2024. She still needs to go before the Senate to secure confirmation for the FDA commissioner post.