白宮醫生放棄退伍軍人事務部部長提名

The White House physician, Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson, dropped his bid Thursday to head the country's Veterans Affairs agency as lawmakers probed allegations of professional misconduct and excessive drinking.

As he withdrew, Jackson described the attacks on him as "false allegations," but said they had "become a distraction" to President Donald Trump's effort to improve health care for U.S. veterans.

Trump, in an interview on his favorite news talk show, "Fox & Friends," continued to defend Jackson, his personal physician, saying, "He runs a fantastic operation."

Trump blamed Senator Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, for the demise of Jackson's nomination to the Cabinet position.

The U.S. leader said he now has "somebody with a political background" in mind to name as a replacement for Jackson to head the Veterans Affairs agency.

Trump said in the Fox interview he had told Jackson "a day or two ago I saw where this was going," but had left it up to Jackson to decide whether to do so.

Jackson was fast losing support in Congress.

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers indefinitely postponed Jackson's scheduled Wednesday confirmation hearing as they investigated the allegations.隨着國會調查有關白宮醫生羅尼·傑克遜(Ronny Jackson)專業行爲失當和酗酒的舉報，被川普提名爲美國退伍軍人事務部部長的傑克遜週四宣佈放棄提名。

傑克遜在宣佈退出時稱對他的指責是 “虛假指控”，但已經對川普總統改善美國退伍軍人醫療保健的努力造成“干擾”。

川普總統在接受他最喜愛的新聞脫口秀節目“福克斯和朋友們”(Fox＆Friends)的採訪中繼續爲他的個人醫生傑克遜辯護，說“他領導的工作很出色。”

川普指責來自蒙塔納州的民主黨參議員喬恩·泰斯特爾導致傑克遜的提名失敗。

川普表示，他現在考慮提名一個“具有政治背景的人”，來領導退伍軍人事務部。

川普在接受福克斯採訪時說，他一兩天前就告訴傑克遜“我所看到的事態發展”，但他讓傑克遜自己決定是否退出。

傑克遜被提名後，很快就在國會失去了支持。

共和黨和民主黨議員星期三無限期推遲了定於週三舉行的傑克遜提名聽證會，因爲他們需要對傑克遜的有關指控展開調查。