Trump’s Drug Czar Nominee Calls It Quits

Pennsylvania Representative Tom Marino, the primary candidate pegged, not once but twice, as President Donald Trump drug czar nominee, is now a true believer in the fact that once the mainstream media uncovers even a smidgen of dirt from under the fingernail of Washington politics, you are dead in the water.

It was revealed on Tuesday that Marino no longer wishes to be considered for the position of Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). In an early morning Twitter post, President Trump announced that Marino “is withdrawing his name from consideration as drug czar,” going on to commend the lawmaker for being a “fine man and a great Congressman.”

The Damaging Report On Trump’s Drug Czar Nominee

Without a doubt, Marino’s decision to jump out of the kettle before the fire got too hot stems from a recent joint report from the Washington Post and 60 Minutes, which discovered that a piece of legislation, passed at the hands of Marino, has caused the nation’s opioid crisis to spiral further out of control. The new law that emerged last year from his legislative actions, which was made official with the signature of President Obama, is said to have made it difficult for the DEA to control the pharmaceutical trade.

Other reports have shown evidence of Marino and other members of Congress being in cahoots with the drug companies, accepting payoffs from lobbyists to support legislation that makes it easier for these corporations to turn the U.S. into a nation of junkies.

On Monday, during a joint press conference with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, President Trump said “we are gonna look into the report and we are gonna take it very seriously,” when asked about his drug czar selection actually making the opioid epidemic worse. He assured reporters that he would make a “change” if Marino’s bill has, in fact, prevented the DEA from fighting the opioid problem.

But an investigation simply wasn’t good enough for several members of Congress, many of which demanded that Marino step down as a candidate for Trump’s drag czar.

Calls For Marino’s Withdrawal

Senator Jo Manchin, of West Virginia, fired off a letter to Donald Trump, saying that Marino “has tied the hands of the DEA in their efforts to enforce out nation’s laws.”

“I urge you to withdraw the nomination of Congressman Tom Marino to lead the Office of National Drug Control Policy,” he wrote.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, even came forward, expressing his disdain for the idea of Marino running the ONDCP.

“Confirming Rep. Marino as our nation’s drug czar is like putting the wolf in charge of the hen house,” Schumer said. “The American people deserve someone totally committed to fighting the opioid crisis, not someone who’s labored on behalf of the drug industry.”

Some of the latest data shows in upwards of 64,000 people died last year as a result of an opioid overdose. Around half of the cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were the result of the abuse or misuse of prescription painkillers.

For now, no one has any idea who will Trump will pick to oversee drug policy in the United States. Rest assured, the administration will be extra careful with its selection.