Joe Biden's drug czar is the main reason behind White House's ‘toxic’ environment: Report
ONDCP Director prioritizes political aspirations over US addiction crisis.
Dr. Rahul Gupta, the White House drug czar, has been accused of creating a “toxic” work environment and neglecting his duties by several current and former staffers, Politico reported Friday.
The director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has allegedly prioritized his “political aspirations” over the US addiction and overdose crisis, which has claimed more than 111,000 lives in the past year, according to the latest CDC data.
Gupta’s management style has caused high staff turnover and missed deadlines, the report said. At least eight top officials and several other staffers have resigned in recent months largely because of Gupta.
ALSO READ| Donald Trump's New York City fraud trial: How can the former president pay the $354 million fine?
Gupta ‘might be the problem’
“When everybody leaves, it can’t be ‘everybody is the problem,’” one former ONDCP official told Politico.
“On some level, you might be the problem,” the former official added, referring to Gupta.
The report also detailed Gupta’s demands for raising his public profile and his dissatisfaction with his travel and accommodation arrangements. He once canceled a trip because he refused to fly on Southwest Airlines and asked for a bigger hotel room after measuring the one he was given. He also used government vehicles for personal events, such as weekend embassy parties.
“I think he likes the perks of the job. I think he likes the title, the ability to travel,” a former official said.
“But I don’t know that he likes the work that’s required to make it a very relevant place.”
Gupta, a physician and former West Virginia state health commissioner, was also criticized for not supporting or listening to aides recovering from substance use disorders who work in his office.
ALSO READ| ‘Make no mistake, Vladimir Putin…’: Joe Biden on Alexei Navalny's death
Gupta's behavior contradicts Biden's promise
“The director makes the culture, and it was not supportive of my recovery,” a former official told Politico.
The report said that Gupta’s behaviour contradicted President Biden’s warning to White House staffers that he would fire them “on the spot” if he ever heard about them disrespecting their colleagues.
“The way he’s been treating people is like, completely the opposite of what Biden said he expects from his staff,” a person with direct knowledge of the situation said.
“I think everybody is afraid because they’re afraid of retribution.”
ALSO READ| Considered becoming US citizen, Prince Harry says: ‘Loving every single day’
“We were hired to do a very specific job that is important to the American people, important to the Biden administration, especially with the Hunter Biden stuff,” a former official noted, referencing the president’s son’s struggle with cocaine addiction.
“No matter what we did to try to push the real administration agenda, we would get side barred by the political aspirations of the director,” the former official lamented.