--- title: Ronny Jackson Has Stepped Down As VA Nominee description: Ronny Jackson has withdrawn his nomination for chief of the Department of Veterans Affairs following mounting allegations of misconduct canonical: https://time.com/5255604/ronny-jackson-withdraws-veterans-affair-head/ author: Nash Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-26T12:28:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:05:43.217Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ronny Jackson Withdraws Bid to Lead Veterans Affairs og:description: President Trump slammed Democrats for trying to "destroy" Jackson og:url: https://time.com/5255604/ronny-jackson-withdraws-veterans-affair-head/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7697b03a168efc67/69892ebfe76ad24618631ce9/gettyimages-947130174.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Trump's Nominee To Be Veteran's Secretary Ronny Jackson Meets With Sen. Isakson On Capitol Hill og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ronny Jackson Withdraws Bid to Lead Veterans Affairs twitter:description: President Trump slammed Democrats for trying to "destroy" Jackson twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7697b03a168efc67/69892ebfe76ad24618631ce9/gettyimages-947130174.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ronny Jackson Withdraws Bid to Lead Veterans Affairs – as President Trump Bashes Democrats for Trying to 'Destroy' Him > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=b47059ef-1e08-4d7f-ad3e-e6b3d4474c59&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Apr 26, 2018 12:28 PM UTC  Physician to the President U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson meets with Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Johnny Isakson (R-GA) in his office in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill April 16, 2018 in Washington, DC. Physician to the President U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson meets with Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Johnny Isakson (R-GA) in his office in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill April 16, 2018 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Apr 26, 2018 12:28 PM UTC Ronny Jackson, the White House physician who served three presidents, has withdrawn his nomination to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs following mounting allegations of professional misconduct. In a statement Thursday morning, Jackson described these allegations as “completely false and fabricated.” “Unfortunately, because of how Washington works, these false allegations have become a distraction for this President and the important issue we must be addressing — how we give the best care to our nation’s heroes.” > [](https://twitter.com/kevincorke/status/989472218114641920) In an interview on _Fox and Friends_ on Thursday morning, President Donald Trump blasted Democrats – calling out Montana Sen. Jon Tester repeatedly – for lodging allegations that he called unsubstantiated. “He would have done a great job… and they’re trying to destroy a guy,” Trump said. “There’s not proof of this. There’s no proof of this.” Trump warned that Tester, who is in a tough reelection battle in November in deeply red Montana, is in for a reckoning at the polls. “For him to be doing this to this man and this family, I think Jon Tester has a big price to pay in Montana,” Trump said. > [](https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/989479706725564417) Trump also said that it was his idea – not Jackson’s – for his personal physician to run the government’s second-largest agency. Trump emphasized that Jackson’s experience was sufficient because “nobody” would be fully qualified to run the VA because of its massive scale. Jackson, a Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy who has worked as a doctor in the White House since 2006, faced pressure to withdraw his name from consideration in recent days facing allegations that he repeatedly drank on the job and overprescribed drugs like Ambien. He was so liberal in doling out these prescriptions, [sources say](http://time.com/5255389/donald-trump-va-nominee-drunken-behavior-drugs-prescription/), that he was nicknamed “Candyman” by colleagues. He also allegedly wrecked a government vehicle while under the influence of alcohol at a Secret Service going-away party. Jackson has denied the allegations. The allegations first appeared in a document compiled by Democrats on the Veterans Affairs Committee that was provided to [media outlets.](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/25/us/politics/ronny-jackson-veterans-affairs-nomination.html) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5255604/ronny-jackson-withdraws-veterans-affair-head/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5255604/ronny-jackson-withdraws-veterans-affair-head/"},"headline":"Ronny Jackson Withdraws Bid to Lead Veterans Affairs – as President Trump Bashes Democrats for Trying to 'Destroy' Him","datePublished":"2018-04-26T12:28:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:05:43.217Z","description":"Amid mounting allegations","url":"https://time.com/5255604/ronny-jackson-withdraws-veterans-affair-head/","keywords":["White House","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7697b03a168efc67/69892ebfe76ad24618631ce9/gettyimages-947130174.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7697b03a168efc67/69892ebfe76ad24618631ce9/gettyimages-947130174.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump's Nominee To Be Veteran's Secretary Ronny Jackson Meets With Sen. 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