The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Drug czar nominee pulls name from consideration, Trump says
Report said Marino helped pass law that hobbled the DEA.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday said his nominee to be the nation’s drug czar is withdrawing from consideration for the job — a move that comes in the wake of a Washington Post/“60 Minutes” investigation detailing how the lawmaker helped steer legislation through Congress that weakened the Drug Enforcement Administration’s ability to go after drug distributors, even as opioid-related deaths continue to rise.
On Monday, following the report, Democrats called on Trump to quickly discard Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., who was nominated in September to lead the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
“Rep. Tom Marino has informed me that he is withdrawing his name from consideration as drug czar,” Trump said in a Tuesday morning tweet. “Tom is a fine man and a great Congressman!”
Trump declined to express support for Marino on Monday when asked about his nominee during a news conference, saying, “we’re going to be looking into” the Post/“60 Minutes” report. Many Democrats and at least one Republican have called for modification or outright repeal of the law the investigation showed was the result of a targeted lobbying campaign by the drug distribution industry.
The president also said Monday that he will declare a national emergency next week to address the opioid epidemic.
Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, Trump defended Marino as “a very early supporter of mine” and “a great guy.” He said that he had seen the reporting in question and that the White House would review the information.
Marino, 65, represents Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District, a solid-red, mostly rural area that voted overwhelmingly for Trump last year. Marino served as U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania during the Bush administration and previously served as district attorney for Lycoming County, which encompasses Williamsport.
Marino hadn’t been making plans for reelection and it wasn’t clear Tuesday whether he would seek a fifth term next year. But congressional Democrats pounced, calling him part of a growing scandalized culture among House Republicans, 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.
“At this point, the whole House stinks and that will make it more difficult for House Republicans to defend their imperiled majority,” the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said in a statement.
Marino first won his seat in 2010 and has won each of his races with at least 55 percent of the vote. He sits on the Judiciary, Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs committees.
Following reports Tuesday of Marino’s withdrawal, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called Trump’s announcement “the right decision” but said that the nomination “is further evidence that when it comes to the opioid crisis, the Trump administration talks the talk, but refuses to walk the walk.”
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, W.Va., whose state has been hard hit by the opioid epidemic, said he welcomed the news. He was among the first to call for Marino’s nomination to be withdrawn.
“We need a drug czar who has seen these devastating effects and who is passionate about ending this opioid epidemic. I look forward to working with President Trump to find a drug czar that will serve West Virginians and our entire country,” he said in a statement Tuesday.
The chief advocate of the law that hobbled the DEA was Marino, who spent years trying to move it through Congress. It passed after Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, negotiated a final version with the DEA.
Hatch defended his support of the legislation and Marino on Monday, saying in a statement that he “does not believe one flawed report should derail a nominee who has a long history of fighting illegal drug use and of helping individuals with chronic conditions obtain treatment.”
“Let’s not ignore the full story here in the rush toward easy politics,” Hatch added.