Navy Corpsmen Delivered ‘Whoopee Pills’ to Lawmakers, Cut Their Toenails, Sailors Say

The Navy removed Rear Admiral Brian Monahan as Congress’s attending physician amid an inspector general investigation and complaints about the treatment of sailors assigned to his office.

by Susan Katz Keating

It sounded like something from the Age of Sail, when men aboard ship endured exhausting labor and brutal discipline. Only these sailors were serving inside the U.S. Capitol, assigned to the Office of the Attending Physician in Congress. “It was like a dungeon where they only let you out to do their bidding,” one former medical corpsman told me. “If you tried to leave, they threatened your career or said they’ll ship you out to sea.”

The bidding included being awakened on the floor at 3 a.m. to deliver “whoopee pills” to lawmakers’ homes, two former corpsmen said. Other assignments included cutting lawmakers’ toenails and supplying weight loss injections. 

“We worked up to 80 hours a week,” one sailor said. 

The complaints come amid an inspector general investigation that began on September 2, 2025, into how Pentagon personnel at the office performed their duties. The office provides around-the-clock medical support for Congress and the Supreme Court, with Navy corpsmen historically making up part of its staff. Several sailors recently were reassigned, officials told me.

The Navy removed Rear Admiral Brian Monahan as Congress’s attending physician on Thursday. Monahan could not immediately be reached by Soldier of Fortune. The sailors who spoke to me said they did not deal directly with Monahan, but answered to supervisors who controlled their schedules and work environment.

The complaints come amid an inspector general investigation that began on September 2, 2025, into how Pentagon personnel at the OAP performed their duties. The office is the 24/7 on-call medical clinic for Congress and the Supreme Court. The clinic has been staffed in part by Navy medical corpsmen. Several recently were reassigned, officials told me.

The workload is heavy throughout Capitol Hill and is always a subject for commiseration, Congressional staff members told me. But the sailors’ assignments drew particular sympathy, along with some uncomfortable humor. 

“I don’t know what would be worse,” one staff member said. “Thinking of my boss taking one of those ‘special’ pills, or cutting his toenails.”

The former corpsmen described more than distaste for an assignment. They said attempts to leave brought threats to their careers or warnings that they would be sent far out to sea. 

I’m continuing to report on their treatment and the circumstances surrounding Monahan’s departure while awaiting the inspector general’s findings.

Readers with firsthand knowledge of the Office of the Attending Physician or the matters under investigation are invited to contact me privately.

Susan Katz Keating is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Soldier of Fortune Magazine.