Chad Chronister, a local-level law enforcement official Donald Trump tapped to head the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has become the second high-level appointee to quit.
Announcing his decision on X on Tuesday night, Chronister cited the magnitude of the task as his reason for withdrawing&nbsp;from taking over the nation&rsquo;s top drug-fighting job.
&ldquo;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,&rdquo;&nbsp;he said.
Chronister&rsquo;s resignation highlights the problems the President-elect, who has been fielding untried and controversial figures,&nbsp;is facing in filling the top jobs in his administration.
Matt Gaetz&mdash;Trump's nominee for attorney general&mdash;dropped out last month amid allegations of misconduct involving a minor and drug use. He was investigated by a Congressional ethics committee, giving Trump his first setback.
Chronister is so far clean in terms of scandals, but the sheriff of Hillsborough County in Florida&nbsp;has no national or international&nbsp;experience in fighting drugs&mdash;a priority in Trump's campaign.
Trump&rsquo;s pick for defence secretary, Fox News presenter Pete Hegseth is facing intense scrutiny. In addition to concern over his drinking habits, Hegseth was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2017. He paid her a settlement, but continued to insist&nbsp;the encounter was consensual.
If confirmed by the Senate, Hegseth will oversee the world's most powerful military, and its 2 million personnel.Adultery is a crime under certain circumstances under military&nbsp;law.
Hegseth is currently on thin ice. NBC News reported that according to Republican sources it did not name, at least six party senators &ldquo;are currently not comfortable supporting&rdquo;&nbsp;him.&nbsp;Hegseth&rsquo;s nomination will not go through if even just four of these Republican&nbsp;senators vote against him.
Trump&rsquo;s choice for Health Secretary, Robert F Kennedy, Jr&nbsp;has come under the scanner for his drug use and vocal opposition to vaccinations.
While Tulsi Gabbard, and Kash Patel&mdash;Trump picks to head national intelligence&nbsp;and the FBI, respectively&mdash;are so far in the clear personally, but their ideologies have caused friction.
Gabbard has made some statements critical of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and what is claimed to be sympathetic to Russia, and she has also met privately with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, considered a US enemy.
Patel has threatened to substantially dismantle and remake the FBI and hyperbolically threatened to turn its headquarters into a museum of the &ldquo;Deep State&rdquo;&mdash;what the political establishment's critics say is the unelected, behind-the-scenes manipulators of the government.
&mdash;With agency input

2nd high-level appointee to quit, Chad Chronister highlights problems in filling top jobs

Trump’s Anti-Drug Nominee Resigns

2nd high-level appointee to quit, Chad Chronister highlights problems in filling top jobs

December 4, 2024 | 17:37 IST