White House says 'additional factors' led to five staffers losing their jobs besides simply marijuana use after fierce backlash
Five White House staffers have been fired because of their past use of drugs, including marijuana, press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday.
Marijuana has become a delicate issue for President Joe Biden's administration because 15 states and Washington, D.C., allow for recreational usage, despite a federal prohibition.
The administration has tried not to automatically penalize potential staffers for legal behavior in their communities by developing a more flexible policy, Psaki said in a statement to The Associated Press.
'In an effort to ensure that more people have an opportunity to serve the public, we worked in coordination with the security service to ensure that more people have the opportunity to serve than would not have in the past with the same level of recent drug use,' Psaki said.
The Biden administration has tried not to automatically penalize potential staffers for legal behavior in their communities by developing a more flexible policy, press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement
'While we will not get into individual cases, there were additional factors at play in many instances for the small number of individuals who were terminated.'
She would add in a tweet: 'The bottom line is this: of the hundreds of people hired, only five people who had started working at the White House are no longer employed as a result of this policy.'
The Daily Beast website first reported the firings Thursday night. The move garnered harsh criticism from people all along the political spectrum.
Press secretary Jen Psaki said in a tweet: 'The bottom line is this: of the hundreds of people hired, only five people who had started working at the White House are no longer employed as a result of this policy.'
Marijuana has become a delicate issue for President Joe Biden's administration because 15 states and Washington, D.C., allow for recreational usage, despite a federal prohibition
Hundreds of aides in the two-month-old Biden administration have cleared the suitability review by career staffers handling security issues. The White House has said there can be multiple factors for dismissals, including hard drug use. The marijuana policy has become less stringent under the Biden administration, allowing for up to 15 past uses in a year among White House staffers.
The broader federal government has also become somewhat more lenient, with the Office of Personnel Management releasing a memo that says a person should not be deemed unfit merely because of past marijuana usage. The seriousness of the use and the nature of the position will also be factors in judging new hires.
Security and suitability reviews have been an issue for past administrations. At least 25 clearance denials were overturned by President Donald Trump's administration, where people faced possible disqualification because of foreign influence, conflicts of interest, concerning personal conduct, financial problems, drug use and criminal conduct.
Despite Psaki's statement on the manner, many noted Vice President Kamala Harris's comments about having smoked marijuana
Despite Psaki's statement on the manner, it's hard to disregard Vice President Kamala Harris's own comments about marijuana.
'I have [smoked marijuana]. And I inhaled. I did inhale,' Harris said during her interview with The Breakfast Club in 2019 regarding her college days.
'I think it gives a lot of people joy. And we need more joy in the world.'
According to Fox News, Harris also supported Cory Booker's Marijuana Justice Act, which would've legalized marijuana at the federal level.
The bill was introduced in the Senate and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, but never went any further.
