Rep. Thomas Marino, R-Pa., was chief sponsor of the bill curbing DEA prosecutorial power. Susan Walsh/AP file photo
Trump’s Nominee for Drug Czar Withdraws
Rep. Marino faulted for championing bill to curb DEA powers for prosecuting opioid abuse.
In an early-morning tweet on Tuesday, President Trump announced that Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., the man he nominated in September to run the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, had pulled out.
"Rep. Tom Marino has informed me that he is withdrawing his name from consideration as drug czar. Tom is a fine man and a great Congressman!" Trump wrote.
The move followed a day of negative reactions to an expose by The Washington Post and CBS News’ “60 Minutes” interviewing departed and disgruntled Drug Enforcement Administration officials who suggested that a 2016 law trimming their prosecutorial authorities was the fruit of lobbying by major distributors of the opioid painkillers that have caused thousands of cases of addiction and deaths.
Marino was the chief sponsor of the quietly passed bill, which was signed by President Obama.
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