President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Drug Enforcement Administration has declined the function after Republican lawmakers blasted him for taking COVID measures critically through the peak of the pandemic in 2020.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister, a Florida Republican, said in a statement Tuesday that he had determined to drop out after the “gravity of this essential accountability set in.”
“To have been nominated to function Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration is the distinction of a lifetime,” Chronister mentioned in a press release. “Over the previous a number of days, because the gravity of this essential accountability set in, I’ve concluded that I have to respectfully withdraw from consideration.”
Trump picked Chronister ― who has labored within the sheriff’s workplace for greater than 30 years within the Tampa space ― on Saturday. Chronister has been elected 3 times to his present place as sheriff for Hillsborough County, The New York Times reported.
In keeping with The Instances, Chronister has “just about no expertise with the complicated worldwide investigations for which the [DEA] is understood.” Chronister’s fellow conservatives additionally pushed again in opposition to his nomination over his actions through the coronavirus pandemic.
Following Trump’s announcement, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) mentioned on Sunday that Chronister needs to be “disqualified” for ordering the arrest of a megachurch pastor who defied the 2020 COVID lockdowns by holding a church service. Costs in opposition to the pastor had been later dropped.
“I’m going to name ’em like I see ’em,” Massie posted on X. “Trump’s nominee for head of DEA needs to be disqualified for ordering the arrest [of] a pastor who defied COVID lockdowns.”
And Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told Fox News, “We don’t want authoritarians who refuse to make use of discretion and shield the Structure – irrespective of which get together is in energy.”
Following Chronister’s announcement, Massie posted on X that he was pleased with the choice.
“Glad to see him withdraw from consideration,” Massie mentioned. “Subsequent time politicians lose their ever-lovin minds, he can redeem himself by following the Structure.”
