Jackson retired from the Navy as a rear admiral (lower half) in December 2019.[16] In 2020, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2021, an investigation by the Defense Department inspector general found that Jackson had engaged in various inappropriate behaviors as an admiral; the following year, the Navy retroactively demoted him to the rank of captain. Jackson continued to represent himself as an admiral until his demotion was brought to light in 2024.
Then-Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson while serving as physician to the President, in October 2016Jackson departs Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with President Barack Obama in 2015
In June 2006, Jackson became a physician in the White House Medical Unit (WHMU),[21] ultimately working under three presidents.[22] He became WHMU director in May 2010, and in July 2013 was given the additional title of Physician to the President.[21] In December 2014, Jackson's duties as WHMU director ended, but he continued to be Physician to the President.[21] In January 2017, Jackson made headlines after treating a girl who was bitten by Sunny, one of the Obamas' dogs.[23][24]
After Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, he kept Jackson on as Physician to the President.[21][25][22] Upon taking office, Trump gave Jackson the additional title of Deputy Assistant to the President.[21] Jackson became close to Trump after delivering an hourlong press conference in which he gave a glowing assessment of Trump's health, praising Trump's "incredibly good genes" and his performance on a cognitive test ("exceedingly well") and claiming that "if he had a healthier diet over the last 20 years, he might live to be 200 years old."[22][26] Jackson was criticized for the statements[26] and accused of misstating Trump's height and weight in order to minimize his obesity.[27] Trump appointed Jackson as "Assistant to the President and Chief Medical Advisor" on February 2, 2019.[21]
Jackson held the Navy rank of captain from May 1, 2010, to October 1, 2016, when he was promoted to rear admiral (lower half).[28][21] Jackson was nominated for promotion to the two-star rank of rear admiral on March 20, 2018,[29][30] but the Senate Committee on Armed Services returned the nomination to the president on January 3, 2019, without action.[29] He was renominated by Trump for promotion again on January 15, 2019, but it was again returned to the president without action.[31] Jackson retired from the Navy on December 1, 2019, as a rear admiral (lower half).[21]
In July 2022, the Navy demoted Jackson from rear admiral (lower half) to captain for actions "not in keeping with the standards the Navy requires of its leaders",[32][33] citing "substantiated allegations" in a 2018 investigation by the Defense Department's inspector general into reports that the physician had drunk alcohol while on duty, acted inappropriately, and routinely yelled at subordinates.[34][35] Despite the demotion, Jackson continued to represent himself as an admiral on his congressional website through at least March 2024, when the story was first uncovered by The Washington Post.[3][36]
Nomination as Secretary of Veterans Affairs (2018)
On March 28, 2018, Trump announced that he planned to nominate Jackson to succeed David Shulkin as Secretary of Veterans Affairs.[6][37][38] Some senators expressed skepticism of the nomination due to Jackson's lack of management experience.[6][39] Others noted the allegations about Jackson's conduct, which the administration disputed.[40]
On April 23, the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs postponed a hearing on Jackson's nomination after current and former White House medical staff accused him of creating a hostile work environment, excessive drinking on the job, and dispensing medication improperly.[41][42] Much of the hearing was handled by Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana), the committee's ranking member, with the support of its chairman, Republican senator Johnny Isakson.[43] While acting as Physician to the President, Jackson earned the nicknames "the candyman" and "Dr. Feelgood" for ignoring medical procedures and dispensing drugs without prescriptions.[44][45] Tester told CNN on April 24 that Jackson was known as "the candy man" at the White House, according to around 20 people who brought these concerns to the committee, because he allegedly handed out Ambien, Provigil, and other prescription drugs "like they were candy".[46][47] At a press conference, Trump called Jackson "one of the finest people that I have met", hinted that Jackson might drop out, and accusing Democrats of mounting an unfair attack on his record.[42]
On April 25, CNN reported that during an overseas trip in 2015, an intoxicated Jackson knocked on a female employee's hotel room door so noisily that the Secret Service stopped him to prevent him from waking President Obama. Secret Service officials said they had no record of such an incident.[48][49]
Jackson withdrew from consideration for Secretary of Veterans Affairs on April 26, 2018, after the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs began formally investigating the allegations.[50][51] Senator Johnny Isakson, the Republican chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, defended Tester's grilling, saying he had no problem with Tester's handling of Jackson's nomination.[52]
Jackson insisted that the allegations were "completely false and fabricated" and said he was withdrawing because the controversy had become a distraction for Trump and his agenda.[50] Jackson returned to work in the White House Medical Unit but did not return to his position as Trump's personal physician;[21][53] he was replaced in that position by Navy officer Sean Conley, who had taken over that role a month earlier in an acting capacity.[53] The 115th Congress returned his nomination to Trump on January 3, 2019, without it being considered in the Senate Committee on Armed Services.[54]
OIG investigators interviewed Jackson and 78 witnesses.[21][56] The OIG noted that its interview of Jackson "was limited in scope and unproductive" because lawyers in the White House Counsel's office insisted upon participating in the interview and "instructed Jackson not to answer any questions concerning events after his appointment as the Physician to the President in July 2013."[21]
In March 2021, the OIG issued its report.[21] It documented Jackson's inappropriate interactions with subordinates and heavy drinking while on duty.[57] The OIG concluded, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Jackson had "made sexual and denigrating statements about one of his female medical subordinates to another of his subordinates"; that Jackson "drank alcohol with his subordinates in Manila, became intoxicated, and, while in his hotel room, engaged in behavior that witnesses described as screaming and yelling, and behavior that some complained might wake the President"; and that Jackson took Ambien (a sleep medication) during official travel, "raising concerns about his potential incapacity to provide proper medical care during this travel."[21][58] In addition to findings that Jackson had "engaged in inappropriate conduct involving the use of alcohol" during two presidential trips, the report also found that he "disparaged, belittled, bullied, and humiliated subordinates"; "created a negative WHMU work environment"; and "failed to conduct himself in an exemplary manner and made an unfavorable impact on the overall WHMU command climate."[21][59] On March 2, 2021, the inspector general briefed members of Congress on its review.
After the report was issued, Jackson said that the allegations were a "political hit job because I stood with President Trump" and that they "resurrected those same false allegations from my years with the Obama Administration because I have refused to turn my back on President Trump."[56][60]
On December 9, 2019, Jackson filed to run for Congress in Texas's 13th congressional district. The seat came open when 13-term incumbent Republican Mac Thornberry announced he would not seek reelection in 2020.[61][62] Jackson finished in second place in the Republican primary–the real contest in this heavily Republican district–behind former Texas Cattle Feeders Association lobbyist Josh Winegarner, and the two faced off in a July 14 runoff election for the nomination.[63][64] Jackson defeated Winegarner, 55.58% to 44.42%.[65] According to The New York Times, Jackson "ran a campaign based on his close relationship with President Trump." He leveraged that relationship to obtain assistance from two top officials with Trump's reelection campaign, Justin Clark and Bill Stepien.[65]
In May 2020, Jackson claimed without evidence that Obama had spied on Trump's 2016 presidential campaign,[65] and accused him of "[weaponizing] the highest levels of our government to spy on President Trump."[66] Jackson added, "Every Deep State traitor deserves to be brought to justice for their heinous actions."[66]
Jackson opposes mask mandates to halt the spread of COVID-19.[67] He has said, "I think that wearing a mask is a personal choice, and I don't particularly want my government telling me that I have to wear a mask."[67]
Jackson won the general election, taking 79.4% of the vote to Democratic nominee Gus Trujillo's 18.5%. However, he had effectively clinched a seat in Congress with his runoff victory. Since Thornberry was elected in the 1994 Republican wave, no Democrat has crossed the 40% mark in the district, and only three have managed 30%.
Tenure
Jackson attended the January 6 "Stop the Steal" rally at the White House Ellipse.[68] During the January 6 attack on the Capitol, he was inside the Capitol when members of the Oath Keepers militia allegedly exchanged text messages about protecting Jackson because he had supposedly had "critical data". Oathkeeper leader Stewart Rhodes replied, writing: "Give him my cell". Rhodes was later charged with seditious conspiracy,[69][70] convicted, and sentenced to 18 years in federal prison.[71] Later on January 6, 2021, during the certification of the 2020 election, Jackson objected to certifying Arizona's and Pennsylvania's electoral votes.
On May 19, 2021, Jackson voted against legislation to establish the formation of a January 6 commission meant to investigate the storming of the U.S. Capitol.[72] On May 2, 2022, the January 6 committee released a letter to Jackson requesting he meet with the committee; in response, Jackson released a statement calling the committee "illegitimate".[68]
In June 2021, Jackson was one of 14 House Republicans to vote against legislation to establish June 19, or Juneteenth, as a federal holiday.[76]
In November 2021, Jackson created a conspiracy theory that Democrats made up the Omicron variant of COVID-19 (he called it "MEV - the Midterm Election Variant") as "a reason to push unsolicited nationwide mail-in ballots" and to "cheat" in the upcoming midterm elections.[77]
In May 2022, the Office of Congressional Ethics reported that there was "substantial reason" to believe that Jackson had used campaign funds for personal use, to pay for unlimited access for himself and his wife to the Amarillo Club, a private dining club in Amarillo, Texas. Jackson refused to cooperate with the Congressional investigation, and his campaign's treasurer and accounting firm refused to provide requested documents to investigators.[78]
In December 2022, Jackson falsely claimed that California representative Katie Porter had asserted that "pedophilia is not a crime" but "an identity", referring to a deceptively edited video of a congressional hearing.[79]
Jackson was among the 71 Republicans who were joined by 46 Democrats to vote against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House.[81] Republicans voting against it contended it did not cut spending enough, while Democrats objected to the increased work requirements for program recipients.[81]
Veterans' health
Jackson voted against the 2022 PACT ACT, which expanded VA benefits to veterans exposed to toxic chemicals during their military service.[82]
In July 2023, Jackson was briefly detained by law enforcement in White Deer, Texas, during a rodeo.[86] Video of the incident provided by the Texas Department of Public Safety showed that Jackson tried to help a teenager suffering from a seizure. After a trooper requested that he step back to allow paramedics to help her, Jackson confronted the trooper, pushed past officers who positioned themselves between him and the trooper, and was subdued and handcuffed.[87][88] Rising, Jackson shouted, "You are a fucking full-on dick!" "You better recalculate, motherfucker!" "I'm gonna call the governor tomorrow and I'm gonna talk to him about this shit because this is fuckin' ridiculous."[86][87] Jackson later spoke to Carson County sheriff Tam Terry, who reported that Jackson demanded that the deputies who handcuffed him be punished and threatened to go after Terry politically.[89][90]
↑ Jackson retired as a rear admiral (lower half) in 2019, but his rank was subsequently reduced by the Navy in 2022, after an investigation by the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General substantiated allegations of misconduct against Jackson.[2] Though the demotion was retroactive, it was entered into Jackson's official service record and reduces the amount he is entitled to collect in annual pension payouts.[3]
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