White House defends VA nominee, calls his record ‘impeccable’

White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson at the White House on Jan. 16. Credit: AP / Manuel Balce Ceneta
WASHINGTON — The White House on Wednesday defended President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, amid allegations that Dr. Ronny Jackson improperly dispensed prescription drugs and was at times inebriated on the job.
Jackson, speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday evening, denied the allegations, saying he was eager to move ahead with the confirmation process and answer “everybody’s questions.”
But a report in The Washington Post, published Wednesday evening and citing two unnamed White House officials, said Jackson has told colleagues he is considering withdrawing his nomination.
A day after Trump, in a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, suggested that Jackson should reconsider whether he wanted to put himself through the scrutiny of televised Senate confirmation hearings, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president continued to stand behind Jackson, a Navy rear admiral who has served as a White House physician for the past three presidents.
“Dr. Jackson’s record as a White House physician has been impeccable,” Sanders said at the daily news briefing. “In fact, because Dr. Jackson has worked within arm’s reach of three presidents, he has received more vetting than most nominees.”
Sanders said Jackson has undergone “at least four independent background investigations conducted during his time at the White House,” including an FBI background check, and none of the reviews turned up the allegations that emerged Tuesday ahead of a previously scheduled — and since postponed — confirmation hearing for Jackson.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, in media interviews Tuesday and in a report released by his office Wednesday, said nearly two dozen military employees who previously worked under Jackson have come forward to committee members alleging Jackson was a heavy drinker, created a toxic work environment for his subordinates and was known as the “candy man” for improperly dispensing drugs while on duty.
“We were told stories where he was repeatedly drunk while on duty where his main job was to take care of the most powerful man in the world,” Tester said in interview on NPR Tuesday night. “That’s not acceptable.”
White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short, speaking to reporters outside of the White House on Wednesday, pushed back on the “candy man” label, noting that past audits of the White House physician’s office have not turned up any issues.
“Every year they come in and they do a review of the White House physician’s office on things like prescriptions and every year they said that he’s totally in compliance with what he’s been prescribing,” Short said.
Tester and Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia) the chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, have requested from the White House any communications it may have had in the past 12 years regarding “allegation or incidents” about Jackson.
Isakson, speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, said the committee would reschedule Jackson’s hearing once it had the documents in hand.
“He deserves a hearing and he’s going to get it,” Isakson said.
His nomination had already come under heavy scrutiny from some lawmakers and military advocacy groups who questioned if he had the administrative experience to head the federal government’s second-largest federal agency, with some 30,000 employees.
Trump himself addressed Jackson’s experience on Tuesday, when noting why the physician might consider walking away from his nomination.
“I know there’s an experience problem because of lack of experience, but there’s an experience problem,” Trump said.
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