HOW?

Report: Inexperienced 24-Year-Old Helps Lead Key White House Opioid Response

Staff turnover fueled the former Trump campaign staffer’s rise at the office leading the charge on the opioid epidemic.

An inexperienced 24-year-old former Trump campaign staffer is helping to lead a key White House office focused on combatting the nationwide opioid epidemic, The Washington Post reports. Taylor Weyeneth quickly became the deputy chief of staff at the Office of National Drug Control Policy, after having only worked on the Trump campaign after graduating from college in 2016. His résumés contained inconsistencies, and they implied that Weyeneth had completed a master’s degree even though he was just enrolled in classes. Weyeneth’s rise in the office is attributed to “staff turnover and vacancies,” the Post reports, adding that he has taken over some duties from the recently departed general counsel and acting chief of staff. The White House, after being contacted by the Post, said Weyeneth will resume his initial position as a White House liaison for the office, which he wanted to work at due in part to a heroin-related death in his family.