Trump’s DEA nominee backs out after Covid and immigration criticisms
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister is second Trump nominee to withdraw from consideration, after Matt Gaetz
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Your support makes all the difference.Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister announced he was withdrawing his nomination to be the Trump administration’s head of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The Florida official wrote on X on Tuesday that being considered for the position was “the honor of a lifetime.”
“Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I’ve concluded that I must respectfully withdraw from consideration,” he added. “There is more work to be done for the citizens of Hillsborough County and a lot of initiatives I am committed to fulfilling.”
The sheriff faced pushback from some conservatives after his original nomination, though Florida officials like Governor Ron DeSantis and U.S. Senator Rick Scott backed him.
Party hard-liners criticized Chronister for a 2023 video in which he praised immigrants and discussed how his office “does not engage in federal immigration enforcement activities.”
Others faulted him for the 2020 arrest of Dr. Rodney Howard-Browne, a megachurch pastor who defied safer-at-home orders during the early days of the Covid pandemic. The sheriff said he hoped the arrest would be a “wakeup call” for others violating public health orders. Charges against the religious leader were ultimately dropped.
“This sheriff ordered the arrest of a pastor for holding services during the COVID panic. He was tapped by Trump to head the DEA. Glad to see him withdraw from consideration,” Republican congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky said in a statement on X. “Next time politicians lose their ever-lovin minds, he can redeem himself by following the Constitution.”
Chronister, who has served as sheriff in the county since 2017, is the second high-profile nominee to back out of the Trump transition process.
Last month, Trump administration attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz announced he would withdraw from the confirmation process, as he faced continued scrutiny over allegations of sexual misconduct involving a minor that were investigated by both the Justice Department and the House of Representatives. No charges were brought against the former Florida congressman, and Gaetz has denied the allegations.
Other nominees, like Pete Hegseth for head of the Defense Department, look to be on shaky ground.
The former Fox News host has been accused of sexual assault, which he denies, and has faced scrutiny for his past extra-marital affairs with women and an alleged drinking problem.
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