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| Trump Says Drug Czar Nominee Tom Marino Withdraws From Consideration | Trump Says Drug Czar Nominee Tom Marino Withdraws From Consideration |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Tuesday that his choice for drug czar is dropping out of consideration after reports that the nominee pushed legislation that undermined efforts to combat the opioid epidemic in the United States. | WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Tuesday that his choice for drug czar is dropping out of consideration after reports that the nominee pushed legislation that undermined efforts to combat the opioid epidemic in the United States. |
| In a Twitter post on Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump said that Representative Tom Marino “is withdrawing his name” for the White House job of director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. He said Mr. Marino, a Republican from Pennsylvania, was a “fine man and a great Congressman!” | In a Twitter post on Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump said that Representative Tom Marino “is withdrawing his name” for the White House job of director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. He said Mr. Marino, a Republican from Pennsylvania, was a “fine man and a great Congressman!” |
| Mr. Trump was asked about the future of Mr. Marino’s post on Monday after a joint investigation by CBS’s “60 Minutes” and The Washington Post on Washington’s influence in drug policy. | Mr. Trump was asked about the future of Mr. Marino’s post on Monday after a joint investigation by CBS’s “60 Minutes” and The Washington Post on Washington’s influence in drug policy. |
| The legislation that Mr. Marino championed undermined the Drug Enforcement Administration’s ability to freeze suspicious shipments of drugs — making it difficult to cut the flow of painkillers to the black market — and it was a top priority of the drug industry. | |
| Some Democrats called on the president to pull Mr. Marino from consideration for the job after The Post’s article. | |
| Senator Joe Manchin III, a Democrat of West Virginia, sent a letter to the president on Monday addressing his concerns about Mr. Marino. Mr. Manchin said his state has suffered more than others from opioid abuse, citing the deaths of more than 700 residents in 2016. He said 33,000 Americans had died from overdoses in 2015. | |
| “His advocacy for this legislation demonstrates that Congressman Marino either does not fully understand the scope and devastation of this epidemic or ties to industry overrode those concerns,” Mr. Manchin wrote. “Either option leaves him unfit to serve as the head” of the drug policy office. | |
| Senator Orrin G. Hatch, a Republican of Utah, defended the law in question on Monday and noted that the bill had the support of Republicans and Democrats. | |
| Mr. Hatch introduced the bill in the Senate in February 2015. | |
| “Lest we forget, President Obama signed the bill into law on the advice of his own D.E.A. administrator,” Mr. Hatch said on Monday. |