Dr. Heidi Overton, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the federal agency responsible for approving drugs, vaccines, and food safety standards), told senators Thursday that all FDA-approved vaccines are "safe and effective," including the MMR shot — though she declined to directly contradict Trump, who has falsely called the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine potentially "lethal." Senate Health Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy pressed Overton for firm guarantees after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. failed to honour similar commitments, but Overton offered only to "follow statutory requirements" and give the president her best advice. The hearing also touched on the abortion pill mifepristone, flavoured e-cigarettes, and the FDA's loss of roughly 20% of its workforce since Trump took office — challenges that contributed to the resignation of her predecessor, Dr. Marty Makary, in May.