- Chronister, a Florida sheriff, said he’d continue in that role
- Chronister is the second Trump pick to withdraw his name
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the Drug Enforcement Administration, Chad Chronister, said Tuesday that he was withdrawing his name from consideration for the post.
Chronister, who is the sheriff of Hillsborough County, Florida, said there was “more work to be done” for the citizens of his county and “a lot of initiatives I am committed to fulfilling,” in a statement posted to his account on X.
“I sincerely appreciate the nomination, outpouring of support by the American people, and look forward to continuing my service as Sheriff of Hillsborough County,” he added.
Chronister’s decision to bow out comes just three days after Trump said he is nominating him for the post and follows backlash from some conservatives over the sheriff office’s actions enforcing lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Trump’s nominee for head of DEA should be disqualified for ordering the arrest a pastor who defied COVID lockdowns,” Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky said on X earlier this week.
While Trump led the federal response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including efforts to quickly develop vaccines, he has also pushed back on state and local-level restrictions that closed businesses, schools and places of worship.
The DEA is the federal agency responsible for combating the flow of illicit drugs.
Chronister follows former US House Representative Matt Gaetz, who also withdrew his name for consideration for a post in Trump’s second term. Trump had tapped Gaetz, also from Florida, to be the US attorney general. Gaetz faces allegations of sexual misconduct, which he has denied.
Trump subsequently said he is nominating former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to run the US Department of Justice.
