One down, heaven only knows how many more to go. Many of Donald Trump's nominations have outraged a lot of people, certainly Democrats and the media (with the exception of the right-wing bubble). Republicans have generally been quiet in public but behind the scenes, stuff is going on. None of the Republican senators want Trump's worst nominees to go down in a floor vote. They want them out of there before the vote. That happened with Matt Gaetz and may happen with others (see also below).
The latest nominee to "voluntarily" withdraw is Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister, nominated by Trump to lead the Drug Enforcement Agency. As a sheriff, Chronister is already in law enforcement and has undoubtedly dealt with drug pushers already, so at first glance he is a plausible nominee. He has worked in the sheriff's office for 32 years so no one can claim he is a newbie, like some of Trump's other picks. So, what happened?
First, there was some friendly fire. When Florida was under lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida law forbade many kinds of public gatherings. One of them was church services. One pastor, Rodney Howard-Browne, was ordered by God to hold his church services anyway and felt that God's law trumped Florida's law so he held services. Chronister felt that Florida law trumped God's law and arrested the pastor. That didn't sit well in some right-wing circles. In particular, Chronister was strongly opposed by Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Thomas Massie (R-KY). Chronister was also trashed on eX-Twitter. One person tweeted: "No Covid nazis allowed anywhere in the administration. Automatic disqualification." Not a great start when your own team is not exactly cheering.
Second, the DEA director is not like being sheriff of all 3,100 counties combined. It is a different job. A lot of it is about going after very sophisticated international drug cartels, especially those in Mexico. Chronister knows nothing about that kind of work and catching a drug kingpin in Mexico or Colombia is not at all like arresting a low-end drug dealer in Florida. Trump probably had no idea what DEA actually does when picking Chronister, sort of like Rick Perry having no idea of what the secretary of energy does for a living. Quite a few people (including some senators) thought Chronister wasn't up to a job they consider important.
Third, maybe it is relevant, maybe not, but as the Hunter Biden case shows, sometimes people confuse the sins of the sons with the sins of the fathers. Doesn't the Bible say something about that? The staff theologian was out shopping for Christmas tree decorations and a tacky sweater for the winter solstice party, so we couldn't check. Anyway, Chronister's son, George Chronister, got into a knife fight with another man in 2017 and stabbed him in the face and in the lung and left him to die in a parking lot. He got caught and was sentenced to 22 months in state prison. He could have gotten 15 years. Did the sheriff play a role here? We don't know. Fathers helping out their sons who have committed a crime is not considered cool right now, but this was in 2018. When young Chronister got out, he made a rap video entitled "Slash Yo Face," celebrating his deeds. Some folks think this did not reflect well on Dad.
So, Chronister is gone with the wind. Another nominee who is in trouble is Tulsi Gabbard. She has been less in the spotlight than Matt Gaetz, RFK Jr., Kash Patel, and Pete Hegseth, but some senators see her as the most endangered nominee of all. Patel could arrest and harass a lot of innocent people, but he couldn't put the entire country in grave danger. Giving someone who might be a Russian asset access to all of America's most top-secret intelligence information, could. Her experience and especially her trustworthiness are central here. Some people on the Hill genuinely think she is compromised. One said: "Like, it's not hyperbole." In her favor, though, is that she hasn't been involved in any sex scandals. You should look at the bright side sometimes. (V)