Multiple staffers in President Biden’s White House were reportedly asked to resign, placed on leave, or requested to accept a remote position due to past marijuana use, despite indications that the administration would be friendlier to aides who used the drug.
Those looking to work in Biden’s orbit were required to fill out a lengthy background form, and some had their career prospects come to an end after they indicated past cannabis use, according to the Daily Beast, which cited three anonymous staffers affected by the reported policy.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted that five people “are no longer employed as a result of this policy.”
“There were one-on-one calls with individual affected staffers — rather, ex-staffers,” a former aide said. “I was asked to resign.”
The trio of aides further indicated that they were told by top brass that marijuana usage would not bar them from employment, and they said many of those who were fired or suspended were penalized for using the drug in states where it was legal.
“Nothing was ever explained,” the person said. “The policies were never explained, the threshold for what was excusable and what was inexcusable was never explained,” adding that White House Director of Management and Administration Anne Filipic led the inquiries.
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In late February, it was reported that the Biden administration was set to waive a requirement for Executive Office of the President appointees to have a “Top Secret” security clearance to allow the hiring of staffers who used marijuana in the past. The waiver, which would be given out on a case-by-case basis, would only apply to those who used the drug in a “limited” capacity.
The White House is “committed to bringing the best people into government — especially the young people whose commitment to public service can deepen in these positions,” it told the Daily Beast, adding that the marijuana policy is more lenient than that of previous administrations.
It continued: “The White House’s policy will maintain the absolute highest standards for service in government that the president expects from his administration, while acknowledging the reality that state and local marijuana laws have changed significantly across the country in recent years,” the spokesperson added. “This decision was made following intensive consultation with career security officials and will effectively protect our national security while modernizing policies to ensure that talented and otherwise well-qualified applicants with limited marijuana use will not be barred from serving the American people.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
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The president on the campaign trail indicated support for decriminalizing “the use of cannabis” and “automatically” expunging “all prior cannabis use convictions.”
“Biden believes no one should be in jail because of cannabis use,” his team wrote on his webpage. “As president, he will decriminalize cannabis use and automatically expunge prior convictions. And, he will support the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes, leave decisions regarding legalization for recreational use up to the states, and reschedule cannabis as a schedule II drug so researchers can study its positive and negative impacts.”
