2. Executive Office of the President · Minor
Ensure ONDCP is managed by committed political appointees
Printed page 62 2. Executive Office of the President
“Thus, the President must insure that the ONDCP is managed by political appointees who are committed to the Administration's agenda and not acquiesce to management by political or career military personnel who oversaw the prior Administration's ONDCP.”
What has happened
- Done
ONDCP is run by the President's own appointees. From January 2025 the office was led by Jon Rice as Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director, who put out the administration's Drug Policy Priorities in April 2025; the Senate confirmed Sara Carter as the tenth Director on 6 January 2026 by 52-48. Carter is an investigative journalist who covered the cartels and the border, not a career or military official carried over from the previous administration's ONDCP — the specific outcome the Quote was written to prevent, and the checkable half that carries this Status. She has since led the U.S. delegation to the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, chaired the interdiction principals, and released the 2026 National Drug Control Strategy. **Unassessed clause:** the Quote also asks that the appointees be "committed to the Administration's agenda", which names a quality of a person, and this site does not assess an appointee's personal qualities (GLOSSARY.md, *Unassessed clause*). Done rests on who is running ONDCP and where they came from, not on anyone's commitments.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
The Senate record uses the legal name Sara Bailey; the White House and ONDCP use Sara Carter. An earlier nomination under the name Sara Carter (PN141-11) was withdrawn on 26 June 2025 and re-submitted. The Quote asks that ONDCP not be left to “political or career military personnel who oversaw the prior Administration’s ONDCP”; no such official has led the office in the window.
- Action
- appoint
- Object
- ONDCP leadership
- ID
- 100