Trump’s Nominee for Drug Czar Steps Down Amid Backlash

After a massive report by The Washington Post and 60 Minutes detailing how Tom Marino introduced a bill to Congress that weakened the DEA at the height of the opioid crisis, Marino has removed himself from consideration for the position of “drug czar.”

Yes, drug czar is the colloquial term for a very real position in the United States government—it refers to the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. And Marino was Trump’s hand-picked choice to be the next czar of drugs. But, according to Trump’s Twitter account, Marino has stepped down:

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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2017

Trump continued to defend Marino in an impromptu speech in the White House garden yesterday. He described the Congressman as “a very early supporter of mine” and “a great guy.” Trump also announced he would declare the opioid crisis an epidemic—and Democratic senator Joe Manchin III took the opportunity to implore Trump to repeal the law that Marino introduced, the one that stopped the DEA from attacking prescription drug companies head-on.

WaPo notes today that congressional Democrats cited Marino as yet another example of a toxic, “scandalized” Republican political culture, “which includes at least one lawmaker under Justice Department investigation, another facing a growing ethics probe and another who announced his retirement this month as tawdry details of an affair came to light.”