White House staffers say Biden’s drug czar Rahul Gupta is a ‘prima donna’ who has created a ‘toxic’ work environment: report

The director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has been described by subordinates as a “prima donna” who created dysfunction within the small group of public servants tasked with addressing the US addiction and overdose epidemic, according to a report. 

Several current and former ONDCP officials told Politico Friday that they blame the office’s director, Dr. Rahul Gupta, for fostering a “toxic” work environment that has led to high staff turnover and important deadlines being missed because of the director’s focus on his “political aspirations” rather than the actual job he was hired to do. 

“When everybody leaves, it can’t be ‘everybody is the problem,’” one former ONDCP official told the outlet, which notes that at least eight top officials and several other staffers have resigned in recent months largely because of Gupta. 

“On some level, you might be the problem,” the former official added, referring to Gupta. 

Gupta has pressured staffers to raise his public profile throughout his tenure, according to the report, and fumes when his travel arrangements are not to his liking. 

In one instance, the Biden administration official canceled a trip months in the making because he refused to fly on Southwest Airlines. 

Gupta also once asked staffers to set him up with a different hotel room after he measured the square-footage of the room already booked for him and determined it was too small. 

The ONDCP director would also insist on using government vehicles to attend events, such as weekend embassy parties, that are unrelated to the work of his office.

“I think he likes the perks of the job. I think he likes the title, the ability to travel,” a former official said. “But I don’t know that he likes the work that’s required to make it a very relevant place.”

Gupta, a practicing physician of more than 25 years and West Virginia’s former state health commissioner, was also criticized for not supporting, and rarely listening to, aides recovering from substance use disorders that work in his White House office. 

“The director makes the culture and it was not supportive of my recovery,” a former official told the outlet. 

President Biden warned White House staffers early in his presidency that he would fire them “on the spot” if he ever heard about them demeaning or disrespecting their colleagues. 

The current and former ONDCP officials that spoke with Politico argue that Gupta’s professional demeanor is in conflict with the 81-year-old president’s mission statement.  

“The way he’s been treating people is like, completely the opposite of what Biden said he expects from his staff,” a person with direct knowledge of the situation said. “I think everybody is afraid because they’re afraid of retribution.”

“We were hired to do a very specific job that is important to the American people, important to the Biden administration, especially with the Hunter Biden stuff,” a former official noted, referencing the first son’s well-chronicled battle with cocaine addiction. 

“No matter what we did to try to push the real administration agenda, we would get side barred by the political aspirations of the director,” the former official lamented. 

The White House did not respond to The Post’s request for comment. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent data estimates that more than 111,000 people died from drug overdoses in the US in the 12-month period ending last September.

That’s up from the 109,000 estimated deaths over the same period in 2022 and the 105,000 estimated deaths in 2021.