Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.) has withdrawn his name from consideration to lead the Office of National Drug Control Policy, according to President Donald Trump.
Trump announced Marino's decision on Twitter Tuesday morning, calling him "a fine man and a great congressman."
The move comes just days after an investigative report in CBS' "60 Minutes" and the Washington Post revealed Marino was a key sponsor of a 2016 bill that effectively weakened the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's ability to prevent companies from distributing opioids if they were suspected of suspicious activity.
On Monday, Trump raised the possibility of withdrawing Marino's nomination during a news conference.
"If I think it's 1% negative to doing what we want to do, I will make a change," Trump said.
Congressional Democrats threatened to oppose the nomination amid the news reports. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said confirming Marino as the nation's drug czar would be like "putting the wolf in charge of the henhouse."
"The American people deserve someone totally committed to fighting the opioid crisis, not someone who has labored on behalf of the drug industry," Schumer said.
