WASHINGTON – Louisiana has a lot to say about the Trump administration’s third attempt to install a leader for the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, which .

After much discussion on Capitol Hill last week, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Baton Rouge Republican who chairs the Senate Health Education, Labor & Pensions committee, scheduled a Thursday confirmation hearing for FDA commissioner nominee Heidi Overton, a White House aide

He’s not the only one.

Overton has attracted resistance because she was the White House aide in charge of drafting Trump’s controversial executive orders changing the measles-mumps-rubella vaccination schedule for small children and another protecting the that is suspected, though not proven, to cause cancer.

Overton’s “lack of managerial experience does not prepare her well for leading a large organization that is already dealing with staffing and morale issues,” Cassidy wrote. That's the issue Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, R-Belle Chasse, and a Baton Rouge mother, want addressed.

Given the disruptions resulting from the inability to get a new leader approved, Hart’s first thought — as is true for anyone using a feeding tube — is: what happens if the next shipment of a specialized liquid nutrition formula doesn’t arrive?

It’s not like she can whip up something from leftovers or go make groceries to feed her 10-year-old with an immunodeficiency. He can only ingest the specialized liquid.

“We hoard the stuff, just in case,” Hart said, recalling how difficult it was to obtain baby formula during the pandemic because of supply chain disruptions.

“They’ve already decimated the food inspections,” Hart said. “You need somebody with experience" to ensure supplies keep coming while the agency is reorganized.

For most Americans, a photo of any FDA commissioner is pretty much an emoji for “faceless bureaucrat.” Name one of the 27 commissioners who’ve run the FDA since 1906, when the powers of the present agency were expanded in response to consumers terrified by Upton Sinclair’s novel, “,” about how meat was prepared for sale.

For Nungesser, which bureaucrat runs the FDA is more than just curiosity. He wants Louisiana to know that the FDA commissioner is not some obscure job that has little bearing. Decisions made at that agency can affect food safety, seafood, restaurants and public health — all of which are closely tied to Louisiana’s tourism economy and the livelihoods that depend on it, he said.

Tourism, which Nungesser oversees, has become one of the state’s largest employers, creating 225,000 jobs. Tourists annually spend about $19.5 billion to experience a unique culture, hear Louisiana music and eat Louisiana seafood, he said.

Also weighing in with the lieutenant governor are the folks who make their livings from catching fish, trawling shrimp, dredging oysters, and trapping crawfish, he said. About  is landed in Louisiana, including about 80 million pounds of shrimp that accounts for about 28% of the nation’s catch.

Overton helped draft Trump’s executive order that promotes the  — the active ingredient in chemicals in everyday agricultural, aquaculture, and landscaping settings.

show concentrations of the herbicide have shown up in seafood. The chemical causes hypoxia that kills seafood and could pass along cancer to consumers. But the does not classify glyphosate as a carcinogen and has approved the sale of Roundup and other weedkillers without a warning label.

“Louisianans deserve a serious examination of how the next commissioner intends to protect the food supply, oversee imported food and seafood, respond to outbreaks and maintain public confidence in an agency with enormous responsibilities,” Nungesser said. “Our fishermen should be able to compete on a level playing field. Our restaurants need confidence in the products they serve. And families sitting down for a meal should be able to trust that the food on their plates is safe.”

Neither Hart nor Nungesser oppose Overton, though many in the Make America Healthy Again movement do because of that glyphosate order.

The White House points out that Overton’s job was to present Trump with the instruments he wants — not reflections of her own thoughts. Trump posted on Truth Social that Overton was a “ROCKSTAR” known for taking on the hardest issues.

“I hope if she gets confirmed, she’ll come down to Louisiana, meet with us and the fishermen,” Nungesser said.

Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate.com.