Navy Ousts Congress' Top Doctor After IG Flags Lax Drug Oversight

The Navy has removed Rear Adm. Brian Monahan as attending physician of the U.S. Capitol and top doctor to Congress after a Pentagon watchdog found lax oversight of powerful prescription drugs in his office, prompting his resignation announced Thursday in Washington.^[1]

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday, November 12, that Monahan had stepped down amid misconduct allegations, a day after lawmakers were briefed on a Defense Department inspector general report that cited serious gaps in how the Office of the Attending Physician handled medications, including sleep aids and painkillers.^[1] The Navy, which commissions and oversees the attending physician, is running a separate inquiry into the office as it weighs potential additional discipline and changes to how medical care is delivered on Capitol Hill.^[1]

The inspector general review of the Office of the Attending Physician found "a gap in clinical quality management" and concluded that some prescription medications were not properly inventoried or tracked, creating health and safety risks for members of Congress, staff and other beneficiaries who rely on the clinic.^[1] Investigators flagged mishandling of certain sleep aids and pain medications in particular, raising concerns that the office failed to meet basic standards expected of military-run medical facilities.^[1]

Military personnel assigned to the office told Navy Times, and were cited in the inspector general report, that they were routinely pressured to work 70- to 80-hour weeks and sometimes pushed into performing personal errands for lawmakers, such as cutting a congressman's toenails or dropping off medications at private homes at 3 a.m., blurring professional and ethical boundaries.^[1] These accounts have intensified scrutiny of how members of Congress use the taxpayer-funded medical unit and how rigorously the Navy has supervised the small, high-profile command embedded in the Capitol complex.^[2]

The Navy's decision to oust Monahan comes as service leaders face growing criticism on Capitol Hill for quietly firing or removing several commanders and senior officials in recent months, often without public explanation, a pattern that has already drawn bipartisan pushback from lawmakers who say they are being kept in the dark about accountability decisions inside the fleet and the medical corps.^[2] In this case, however, the Pentagon watchdog's findings and the direct impact on the health and safety of Congress itself are forcing an unusually public reckoning over how the Navy polices one of the most politically sensitive billets in the military.^[1]

1. CBS News
2. PBS News