Fox News Contributor to Lead U.S. Anti Doping Office
By Ed Hula
A contributor to U.S. cable channel Fox News with zero experience in the field of sport doping is nominated to lead the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
The ONDCP was created in 1989 to tackle drug addiction and abuse. The portfolio has since expanded to include U.S. representation at the World Anti-Doping Agency, the international body managing the fight against performance enhancing drugs.
Sara Carter, an investigative journalist who has reported for Fox News, was nominated March 28 to the post by U.S. President Donald Trump.
“From Afghanistan to our Border, Sarah’s relentless pursuit of Justice, especially in tackling the Fentanyl and Opioid Crisis, has exposed terrorists, drug lords, and sex traffickers. As our next Drug Czar, Sara will lead the charge to protect our Nation, and save our children from the scourge of drugs,” said Trump in a posting on his Truth Social website that announced the appointment. The appellation of “Drug Czar” hales to the first ONDCP director, William Bennett, who served under President George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1991. Since then the nickname has stuck to the dozen or so successors.
Carter’s professional career as described on her website saracarter.com includes no experience in sports doping, government or administration of large organizations.
The ONDSP oversees a $43 billion budget and coordinates the work of 19 other federal agencies “addressing addiction and the overdose epidemic” says a release from the administration of Joseph Biden.
Dr. Rahul Gupta served as the previous ONDCP director. A physician, he was state health chief for West Virginia prior to heading to Washington. Others to hold the post have included public health experts, former cabinet members, a retired U.S. Army General, ex-big city mayors and a former governor of Florida.
Under the first Trump administration the ONDCP directorship was a revolving door. There were three interim directors, including a 24-year-old Trump campaign worker, until a permanent director was confirmed by the U.S. Senate for the final months of the Trump presidency. Carter will also need to be confirmed to take charge of the office. There is no schedule set yet for Carter’s Senate review.
“It is truly an honor to serve President Donald J. Trump and be part of an administration committed to putting America first,” says Carter in a post on X.
“I pledge to work tirelessly every day to identify the challenges we face and find the solutions that will Make America Safe Again, freeing us from the grip of deadly substances like fentanyl, heroin, opioids, and other dangerous drugs. I am ready to serve at the pleasure of the President, bringing with me years of experience in investigating cartels, terrorists, human and drug traffickers,” Carter says, not mentioning any sport doping angle to the job.
Also waiting Senate confirmation is the nomination of Monica Crowley as under Secretary of State responsible for protocol. That job entails working with organizers of the 2026 World Cup to be held in the U.S. , Mexico and Canada and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Like Carter, Crowley’s background includes reporting and anchoring for Fox News.
Attempts to reach Carter this week for comment were not successful.
The task ahead for the next ONDCP director includes healing the strained relationship between the U.S. and WADA. Ever since Russia was caught in a massive doping scheme after the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, critics of the agency have bloomed. New strains have emerged over the last year with revelations that 23 Chinese swimmers with adverse findings of doping were cleared to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Outraged members of the U.S. Senate authorized Gupta to withhold payment of dues to WADA, $3.5 million annually, until the findings were reversed. That hasn’t happened. Nonetheless, Gupta eventually okayed payment before leaving office in December. Current dues are required for a country to hold seats in the WADA leadership; the U.S. has customarily been one of the 32 members of the WADA foundation board.
Gupta maintained that the U.S. was seeking assurance its contribution, the biggest among the 200+ nations covered by WADA, delivered results.
“WADA must take concrete actions to restore trust in the world anti-doping system and provide athletes the full confidence they deserve. When U.S. taxpayer dollars are allocated, we must ensure full accountability and it is our responsibility to ensure those funds are used appropriately,” Gupta was quoted by the Associated Press in 2024.
On the flip side, WADA, as well as some international sport leaders, remain unhappy with the so-called Rodchenkov Act. That law enacted during the first Trump administration, gives U.S. law enforcement the power to prosecute individuals around the world involved with doping conspiracy. Sport leaders concerned about the law worry about the long reach of its provisions, saying it could unfairly target officials or athletes at the upcoming 2028 Games in Los Angeles and the 2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City . The name came from the Russian chemist who masterminded the Russian scheme and then fled to the U.S. to expose the state run doping charade.
Travis Tygart, the outspoken head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, has been a critic of WADA through the years. He says with two Olympics on the horizon for the U.S. setting the stage is vital for the athletes.
“Now is the time to get WADA right to ensure these competitions on U.S. soil are clean, safe, and a pageantry of fair competition in which we can all have faith and confidence,” says Tygart.
Despite the difficulties between the U.S. and WADA, controversies are not expected to affect the participation of U.S. athletes at the World Cup or Olympics.
The upcoming confirmation hearing for Carter, still to be scheduled, is likely to focus on the drug addiction aspects of the ONDCP, the battle against fentanyl. Sports doping did not come up in the pro forma hearing for Gupta in 2021. This time, however, in a moment when alliances and norms are being uprooted by a new administration, perhaps Carter might be quizzed about the doping issues under her remit. Her answers may tell whether the U.S. plans continue the sizeable roll it has played in the worldwide fight against doping in sport.