Last Updated on March 25, 2021
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed reports that at least five White House staffers were fired over past marijuana use, refusing to acknowledge Vice President Kamala Harris history of weed smoking.
After reports that the Biden Administration had fired staffers over past marijuana use surfaced last week, Psaki responded on Twitter. “As a result, more people will serve who would not have in the past with the same level of recent drug use,” tweeted Psaki.
As a result, more people will serve who would not have in the past with the same level of recent drug use. 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.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) March 19, 2021
Psaki was confronted over the issue by reporters during a White House press briefing. “Vice President Kamala Harris says that she is a past marijuana smoker… She is with a clear majority of the U.S. population in supporting marijuana legalization, according to polls,” said one reporter.
“Yet last week The Daily Beast reported that there were dozens of White House staffers who were either disciplined or terminated from their jobs for past marijuana use. You seemed to confirm five terminations on Twitter, and my question is why would President Biden allow this to happen, especially considering the White House staff were led to believe that pot use would not be disqualifying, and especially considering the vice president is herself a former marijuana user,” the reporter asked.
She explained that the White House “tried” to “work with the security service” about “suitability for serving” in government. She then added that “the rules were actually far more stringent” in the Obama administration.
"It is still illegal federally" — Jen Psaki explains why past marijuana use resulted in a number of White House staffers losing their jobs pic.twitter.com/AkaoxqQKOC
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 24, 2021
“That isn’t about anyone’s personal point of view, it’s about working through the process, the history, and modernizing it, and taking steps to address the fact that marijuana is legal in a number of states across the country. It is still illegal federally, right? We know that,” said Psaki.
It appears that the Biden administration does not have any plans to allow the five fired staffers to return to work. “If marijuana was federally legal, that might be a different circumstance,” she said.
Psaki had nothing to say about Kamala Harris’s past pot use, or Hunter Biden being kicked out of the Navy for testing positive for cocaine. Hunter was also photographed with a crack pipe in his mouth as he slept.
