Navy sailors assigned to the medical office that serves members of Congress say they were made to perform personal tasks far outside their medical role, including clipping lawmakers’ toenails, according to an investigation published by Navy Times.
One active-duty sailor told the outlet that assignments included “cutting a congressman’s toenails” and “bringing their medication to their private residence at 3 a.m.”
The sailors served in the Office of the Attending Physician, which provides medical care to lawmakers, their staffs, Supreme Court justices and visitors to the Capitol complex and has been staffed by the Navy since 1928.
Four people familiar with the office told Military Times that sailors routinely worked 70 to 80 hours a week, faced pressure to forgo leave, and were threatened with losing monthly bonuses if they challenged civilian supervisors. They said they were also expected to provide medical cover at lawmakers’ birthday parties, dinners and VIP events. According to three people familiar with the office, civilian supervisors could block reassignment requests, keeping sailors on beyond the standard three-year tour.
The Pentagon’s inspector general opened an investigation in September 2025. It covers the medical office, the Defense Health Agency and the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, and its findings have not been released. Several sailors have since been reassigned.
The office’s longtime chief, Rear Adm. Brian Monahan, has now left his post. Monahan, who served as Congress’s attending physician since 2009 and became a familiar figure during the COVID-19 pandemic, is also the subject of a separate Navy inquiry, according to CBS. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said his understanding was that Monahan had resigned. Neither Monahan nor the Navy has publicly announced the departure.
The Navy and the Office of the Attending Physician did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
