Empty desks, squabbles, inexperienced staff: Exactly who is coordinating White House drug policy?
WASHINGTON — For at least six months, staffers in the Office of National Drug Control Policy — often political appointees in their 20s — have crossed 17th Street, entered the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, and sat through weekly meetings of an “opioids cabinet” chaired by Kellyanne Conway.
Then they have returned to their desks and reported back to veteran career staff — who have listened, often with disappointment, to the ideas proposed by Conway and Katy Talento, a domestic policy adviser.
The pair insisted at one point that an opioid awareness campaign focus on fentanyl, a concept opposed by those with experience in substance use prevention. Separately, Conway outlined a plan for a marketing partnership with the NFL and MLB, an idea that has not yet materialized.
Frustrations with the meetings, according to officials familiar with them, are symptomatic of a broader issue: A
