Brian Monahan

Introduction

Dr. Brian Monahan, the two-star Navy admiral who served as the attending physician to Congress since 2009, is out of the job this week amid a Pentagon inspector general investigation into the office he ran, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune confirming the departure — “My understanding is he’s resigned” — on November 13, 2026 . The exit came alongside the release of a Defense Department inspector general report that found a “gap in clinical quality management” at the Office of the Attending Physician, including prescription drugs that were not properly inventoried or tracked, and amid sailors’ complaints that they were made to perform duties like cutting lawmakers’ toenails and delivering medication to private residences at 3 a.m. His removal was first reported by Punchbowl News .

Background Information

Since 1928, the Navy — through the Office of the Attending Physician — has been tasked with providing medical care to members of Congress, their staff, Supreme Court justices, and visitors to the Capitol complex, from routine physicals and first aid to emergency stabilization and disaster planning for the Capitol itself . The office operates around the clock from a set of rooms hidden in the Capitol basement and has always been led by a Navy physician . Monahan, a rear admiral, held the post from 2009 — a tenure of roughly seventeen years — while also serving as a professor at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Maryland, where he previously chaired the department of medicine; he is board certified in internal medicine, hematology, and medical oncology . He kept a low public profile, though his pandemic-era recommendations drew some controversy, and he served as personal physician to Senator Mitch McConnell, overseeing the Kentucky Republican’s care through his recovery from a stroke .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Out as Congress’ top doctor amid a Pentagon IG probe and a separate Navy inquiry; no criminal charges filed. The account below comes from the Defense Department inspector general’s public report as described by CBS News, the New York Post, the Washington Examiner, and Soldier of Fortune Magazine, and from current and former OAP staff quoted anonymously in those reports. The allegations are unadjudicated: Monahan has not been charged with any crime, and nothing in the public record shows he has been tried or convicted of anything. He has not publicly responded to the allegations, and CBS News reported that the Office of the Attending Physician did not reply to multiple requests for comment .

The inspector general’s investigation began on September 2, 2025, examining how Pentagon personnel assigned to the office performed their duties . Current and former Navy personnel told Military Times and other outlets that the sailors stationed in the office were pressed into tasks beyond their medical duties — in one sailor’s words, things “no one else wants to do … like cutting a congressman’s toenails or bringing their medication to their private residence at 3 a.m.” — while working 70- to 80-hour weeks under threat of losing monthly bonuses if they complained . “We usually worked 12-hour shifts, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., with duty every other day,” a former Navy hospital corpsman said; “on duty days, if Congress stayed in session late, the duty crew stayed, too, sometimes until about 4 a.m. We still had to be back for a regular 6 a.m. shift” . Taking leave was discouraged even for family illness, sailors who tried to leave the assignment saw their careers threatened or stalled, and one said a supervisor threatened him with orders to deploy to the Middle East when he asked to depart mid-tour . Former corpsmen told Soldier of Fortune they were awakened at 3 a.m. to deliver “whoopee pills” to lawmakers’ homes and to supply weight-loss injections; several sailors were recently reassigned out of the office .

The public version of the inspector general’s report, released November 13 and heavily redacted, found some prescription drugs — including sleep aids and pain medication — were not properly inventoried or tracked, and warned the shortfalls could “result in OAP beneficiaries unknowingly assuming health and safety risks because clinical and prescribing practices were not monitored” . There were also questions about whether the office dispensed medications to lawmakers and staff without prescriptions . The report made five recommendations, including designating an outside group to oversee quality control and establishing formal policies and procedures for the office’s employees . The Washington Examiner reported Monahan “was fired on Wednesday, along with his civilian deputy”; Soldier of Fortune reported the Navy removed him on Thursday; and Thune, the Senate’s majority leader, told CBS News on Thursday, “My understanding is he’s resigned” — a departure CBS’s source tied to allegations of misconduct related to what Monahan chose to do and asked the sailors under him to do .

Public Reaction and Consequences

The story drew wide attention for the collision of its absurd specifics with the seriousness of the watchdog’s findings — toenail clipping and late-night pill deliveries inside one of Washington’s most discreet institutions. A congressional staff member quipped to Soldier of Fortune, “I don’t know what would be worse. Thinking of my boss taking one of those ‘special’ pills, or cutting his toenails” . Asked about the circumstances of Monahan’s dismissal, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he had no knowledge of them but wanted to ensure members’ health was protected . The New York Post’s account of the resignation and its odd-duty backdrop circulated nationally on November 13 . No lawmaker has publicly defended Monahan’s tenure in the coverage reviewed for this page, and no criminal referral has been reported.

Current Status

Monahan is no longer serving with the Office of the Attending Physician as of mid-November 2026 . The inspector general’s report is public with its five recommendations outstanding, and CBS News reported the Navy is conducting its own inquiry into the office — a proceeding whose findings have not been released . No criminal charges have been filed against Monahan, and he has made no public statement responding to the allegations in the coverage reviewed for this page . The reporting leaves the exact mechanics of his departure contested — resigned per Thune, fired per the Washington Examiner, removed per Soldier of Fortune — and this page tracks the Navy inquiry and the selection of a successor as the open threads.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Monahan’s exit ends a seventeen-year run as the Capitol’s top doctor — a post he held through the COVID pandemic, the January 6 response planning, and McConnell’s stroke care — and the inspector general’s findings have already cost his civilian deputy the job as well, per the Washington Examiner . The institutional fallout extends past him: sailors have been reassigned out of the office, the watchdog has recommended an outside overseer for its clinical quality, and the Navy’s separate inquiry could reach further into how the office was run under his leadership . For a physician whose career included a university chairmanship and board certifications in three specialties, the public record now attaches to his name a resignation forced by a watchdog probe and allegations his office treated assigned sailors as personal staff to lawmakers.

Sources

• NY Post, “Congress’ top doc resigns amid probe into toxic work environment, claims he made staff cut lawmakers’ toenails,” November 13, 2026 — source
• CBS News, “Navy admiral resigns as top doctor for Congress amid misconduct allegations,” November 13, 2026 — source
• Washington Examiner, “Sailor assigned to Congress’s medical office had to cut lawmaker’s toenails,” November 13, 2026 — source
• Soldier of Fortune Magazine (Susan Katz Keating), “Navy Corpsmen Delivered ‘Whoopee Pills’ to Lawmakers, Cut Their Toenails, Sailors Say,” November 12, 2026 — source
• @nypost on X, “Congress’ top doc resigns amid probe into toxic work environment…” (trigger tweet), November 13, 2026 — source