Outside the Beltway

Ronny Jackson’s Rank Restored

The former White House physican (and current Congressman)'s demotion for misconduct has been reversed.

James Joyner · Thursday, September 4, 2025 · 6 comments

WaPo (“Trump officials restore Ronny Jackson’s military rank after Biden-era demotion“):

The U.S. Navy restored the retired rank of Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), a former White House physician and an ally of President Donald Trump, reversing a Biden-era decision to demote Jackson from rear admiral to captain after a Pentagon report upheld misconduct allegations against him.

According to a copy of a June 13 letter from Navy Secretary John Phelan, which Jackson shared on social media on Wednesday, the Navy reinstated the congressman’s rank after “finding good cause to reopen” his retired grade determination. The reinstatement was effective immediately, the letter said. A person familiar with the letter confirmed the reinstatement, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of sensitivities surrounding personnel decisions.

Phelan, who was appointed by Trump, and the Navy did not immediately respond to requests for comment early Thursday. Jackson had refused to publicly acknowledge the demotion after it became public last year and continued to identify himself as a “rear admiral” on his congressional website, on social media and in other materials. Trump and other Republicans also had continued to publicly describe him as an “admiral,” although it is not clear if they initially knew of the Navy’s decision.

Democrats on Wednesday criticized the Navy’s move, calling it a subversion of the military’s process.

“He was demoted to captain because an [inspector general] found he mistreated subordinates and drank on the job as a White House physician,” Chris Meagher, who served as the assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs under President Joe Biden, wrote in a text message. “Unfortunately, through this action and others, this commander in chief and this defense secretary continue to show the American people that loyalty to power is more valuable than integrity in uniform.”

The Washington Post first reported last year that the Navy in 2022 demoted Jackson, who served as personal physician to Presidents Barack Obama and Trump between 2013 and 2018, after the release of a Pentagon inspector general’s report that found he bullied his staff and made inappropriate sexual comments about a female subordinate during his time within the White House Medical Unit.

Jackson was under investigation when he retired to run for Congress. (This, after he withdrew his name from consideration for Secretary of Veterans Affairs because of the scandal.) He was allowed to provisionally retire at the one-star rank to which President Obama had appointed him.

There’s ample evidence of misconduct in the IG report and no evidence of partisan motivation for the action. Conversely, the reinstatement seems clearly motivated by partisanship. Jackson is a Republican congressman and a close ally of President Trump. It’s doubtful, indeed, that they would have reopened the matter otherwise.