WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Republican Congressman Tom Marino has withdrawn his name from consideration for the country's drug czar post.
In a tweet Tuesday morning, Trump said Marino, representative for Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district, "has informed me that he is withdrawing from consideration" for the post of drug czar, or head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
"Tom is a fine man and a great Congressman," Trump said of his former pick for the post.
The announcement came after reports revealed that Marino led an effort to pass legislation that would ease restrictions on the distribution of opioids.
Critics said Marino was unfit to lead the White House office committed to fighting a nationwide opioid crisis.
Trump raised the possibility of withdrawing Marino's nomination when speaking to reporters on Monday.
"We're going to look into the report and we're going to take it very seriously," Trump said. "If I think it's one percent negative to doing what we want to do, I will make a change."
The National Center for Health Statistics said that over 64,000 people died from opioid-related overdoses in the United States in 2016.
Trump said Monday his administration will declare a national emergency for the opioid crisis next week.
