By Steven Ross
Johnson | October 17, 2017
Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.) has
withdrawn his name from consideration to lead the Office of National Control
Policy, according to President Donald Trump.
Trump announced Marino's decision on Twitter Wednesday morning, calling him "a fine man and a great congressman."
The move comes just days after an investigative report in CBS' "60 Minutes" and the Washington Post revealed Marino was a key sponsor of a 2016 bill that effectively weakened the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's ability to prevent companies from distributing opioids.
On Monday, Trump raised the possibility of withdrawing Marino's nomination during a news conference.
"If I think it's 1% negative to doing what we want to do, I will make a change," Trump said.
Congressional Democrats threatened to oppose the nomination amid the news reports. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said confirming Marino as the nation's drug czar would be like "putting the wolf in charge of the henhouse."
"The American people deserve someone totally committed to fighting the opioid crisis, not someone who has labored on behalf of the drug industry," Schumer said.
Trump announced Marino's decision on Twitter Wednesday morning, calling him "a fine man and a great congressman."
The move comes just days after an investigative report in CBS' "60 Minutes" and the Washington Post revealed Marino was a key sponsor of a 2016 bill that effectively weakened the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's ability to prevent companies from distributing opioids.
On Monday, Trump raised the possibility of withdrawing Marino's nomination during a news conference.
"If I think it's 1% negative to doing what we want to do, I will make a change," Trump said.
Congressional Democrats threatened to oppose the nomination amid the news reports. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said confirming Marino as the nation's drug czar would be like "putting the wolf in charge of the henhouse."
"The American people deserve someone totally committed to fighting the opioid crisis, not someone who has labored on behalf of the drug industry," Schumer said.
Steven
Ross Johnson has been a staff reporter for Modern Healthcare magazine since
2013 and covers issues involving public health and other healthcare news.
Johnson has been a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune, Progress
Illinois, the Chicago Reporter and the Times of Northwest Indiana and a
government affairs reporter for the Courier-News in Elgin, Ill. He received a
bachelor's degree in communications from Columbia College in Chicago and a
master’s degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at
Northwestern University.
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