Trump pushes out Shulkin at VA, nominates Jackson as replacement

[webfact]

Trump pushes out Shulkin at VA, nominates Jackson as replacement

By Steve Holland

 

FILE PHOTO: Secretary of the Department of Veteran Affairs David Shulkin talks with U.S. President Donald Trump during the signing of an executive order entitled "Supporting our Veterans during their Transition from Uniformed Service to Civilian Life" in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., January 9, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/Files

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump ousted Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin in response to heavy criticism on Wednesday and nominated his personal physician, Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson, to replace him in the latest turnover among Trump's team.

 

White House officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Shulkin had become a distraction due to a constant wave of speculation about his future and said he would be leaving in the next day or two. They said an undersecretary at the Department of Defense, Robert Wilkie, will be the acting secretary.

 

One official said the criticism of Shulkin was "making it harder for him to carry out the duties of secretary of the VA, which is something the president has made clear is a big priority for him."

 

Jackson, a rear admiral of the U.S. Navy, has been working as a presidential physician since the George W. Bush administration, and has been the lead doctor monitoring Trump's health since Trump became president.

 

Jackson gave Trump a clean bill of health early this year after giving the president a physical and put him on a diet to lose some weight.

 

A Texas native who has been on active duty since 1995, Jackson served during the U.S.-led war in Iraq as an emergency medicine physician in Taqaddum, Iraq.

 

"Admiral Jackson is highly trained and qualified and as a service member himself, he has seen firsthand the tremendous sacrifice our veterans make and has a deep appreciation for the debt our great country owes them," Trump said.

 

Trump said he appreciated Shulkin's work, including passage of the VA Accountability Act."He has been a great supporter of veterans across the country and I am grateful for his service," Trump said in a statement.

 

Shulkin had drawn fire for a damning report from the inspector general of the Department of Veterans Affairs. It found that during a trip to London and Denmark he improperly accepted tickets to the Wimbledon tennis tournament and his chief of staff made false statements so Shulkin's wife could travel at government expense.

 

The VA oversees healthcare and benefits going to roughly 20 million U.S. military veterans. The Veterans Health Administration, the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States, provides care at more than 1,200 facilities, including 170 VA Medical Centers, to more than 9 million veterans.

 

Trump praised Shulkin as "fantastic" when he chose him to head the VA in January 2017. Trump, who promised improved veterans' care during his presidential campaign, last year said the department had made "tremendous progress" under Shulkin.

 

Shulkin said after the release of the inspector general's report that he would comply with its recommendations, including reimbursing the government for his wife's $4,312 airfare and paying his friend for the Wimbledon tickets. The department announced two days after the report was issued that Shulkin's chief of staff, Vivieca Wright Simpson, would retire.

 

Shulkin joins a long list of senior officials who have either resigned or been fired since Trump took office in January 2017. Others include Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price, FBI chief James Comey and FBI No. 2 Andrew McCabe, Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon, national security advisers H.R. McMaster and Michael Flynn, White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, communications directors Hope Hicks and Anthony Scaramucci, and economic adviser Gary Cohn.

 

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Sandra Maler and Leslie Adler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-03-29

[Andaman Al]

Well I just wondered what was offered to the Doc behind closed doors to give such an amazing bill of health and mental abilities to Donald Trump. The Doctor had basically never seen any other individual in his life that was so healthy and intelligent. Well at least that's one mystery over, now we know what was offered in exchange for such an effusive and obsequious post medical press conference. Did they have to make it so so obvious.

 

 

[Emster23]

For a guy who claimed to be such a business genius, able to attract all the best people, he sure has a high staff turnover. I guess he is finding out "you're fired" is not the best business strategy?

 Those who have slight bit of competence leave. Those who are sycophants without creds are  exposed sooner or later as totally unsuited for the job. I suppose it could be seen as a testament to the hard working career people down the food chain that they can get most of the job done in spite of whoever Trump appoints

[Langsuan Man]

No surprise here, Commander Bone Spurs,  is fascinated with uniforms: 

 

[blazes]

16 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

No surprise here, Commander Bone Spurs,  is fascinated with uniforms: 

 

So, that's the guy who stuck his finger up Trump's a$$?

 

 

[Jonnapat]

Becoming more and more unglued every day.

Obama restored the reputation of the US after the Bush years but it's only taken a year to destroy all that goodwill which was generated.

[Morch]

5 hours ago, Andaman Al said:

Well I just wondered what was offered to the Doc behind closed doors to give such an amazing bill of health and mental abilities to Donald Trump. The Doctor had basically never seen any other individual in his life that was so healthy and intelligent. Well at least that's one mystery over, now we know what was offered in exchange for such an effusive and obsequious post medical press conference. Did they have to make it so so obvious.

 

 

 

I don't think anything was offered. He was around for quite a while, way before Trump, and seems quite tenuous to assume Trump planned to kick out Shulkin from the start. If Jackson would have been immediately "promoted" (is it actually a promotion?), perhaps more to it.

 

I'm no doctor, but considering Trump's lifestyle choices (diet etc.) and age, can't say he looks unhealthy. Relatively speaking, that is. Over 70, on the obese side, stressful job, and a temper - but doesn't give the impression he's about to croak

 

Ronny Jackson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronny_Jackson

[mtls2005]

Donors like Richard DeVos (AMWAY, Spectrum Health) are chomping at the bit for the VA to be privatized, and Shulkin, despite his vacation methods, was fighting this concept.

 

Dr. Ronny would appear to have little/no qualifications for managing a sprawling enterprise like the VA?

Edited March 29, 2018 by mtls2005

[xylophone]

18 minutes ago, Morch said:

I'm no doctor, but considering Trump's lifestyle choices (diet etc.) and age, can't say he looks unhealthy. Relatively speaking, that is. Over 70, on the obese side, stressful job, and a temper - but doesn't give the impression he's about to croak

More's the pity.

[geriatrickid]

19 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

Donors like Richard DeVos (AMWAY, Spectrum Health) are chomping at the bit for the VA to be privatized, and Shulkin, despite his vacation methods, was fighting this concept.

 

Dr. Ronny would appear to have little/no qualifications for managing a sprawling enterprise like the VA?

Your comment about the qualifications is bang on. Running a welfare system, and that is what the VA system is, is very different than running a military office or a for profit company.  This doesn't mean the nominee is a bad person, but  one doesn't ask a line mechanic to take over the running of Ford.

[RickTik]

Corruption at the VA runs deep.

President Trump did the right thing here.

Shulkin had to go.

However, the job of cleaning up the VA is just beginning.

[Jingthing]

4 hours ago, blazes said:

So, that's the guy who stuck his finger up Trump's a$$?

 

 

Maybe he gave him a little spanking too? "trump" likes that on the old "trump" rump. Not that there's anything wrong with that! 

[Jingthing]

Word on the street is that he's going to pick his wig guy to be "head" of NASA. 

[Srikcir]

4 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

No surprise here, Commander Bone Spurs,  is fascinated with uniforms: 

Another Trump fascination: "He's like central casting - like a Hollywood star."

http://www.timesnownews.com/international/article/donald-trump-replaces-veteran-affairs-secretary-david-shulkin-ronny-jackson/212026

 

 

[Trouble]

17 hours ago, Andaman Al said:

Well I just wondered what was offered to the Doc behind closed doors to give such an amazing bill of health and mental abilities to Donald Trump. The Doctor had basically never seen any other individual in his life that was so healthy and intelligent. Well at least that's one mystery over, now we know what was offered in exchange for such an effusive and obsequious post medical press conference. Did they have to make it so so obvious.

 

 

Why impugn the integrity of a Rear Admiral physician because you dislike Trump. This physician has spent his career rising to Rear Admiral, he surely has more on the ball than most posters on this forum who day after day spout negativism on every subject.

[55Jay]

Seems like he leaned back in his leather chair and chose the first person that popped into his head, in like 30 seconds.

 

VA. OK, that's the Vets, right?  I love Vets, they're all great guys.

Vets have medical problems.  They need Doctors.

Oh, Hey!  My Doctor is a Doctor!  He knows about medical stuff!

Vets.  Uniforms.  My Doctor wears a uniform.

Ok, so it's decided.  This job is so easy!   What's for lunch?

 

Does this mean RADM Jackson has to retire from active duty first?  I wonder, does the guy even want to leave the Navy?   He's got 23 years in, already an 07/RADM, tracking for at least 3 stars by the time he hits 30 years.  That's a sweet pension.

 

Versus all the sudden, out of nowhere, yanked out of your career because you're convenient and look good, to be thrown into a chaotic, meat grinder of a presidential administration, told to fix a screwed up Department staffed with less than stellar employees, where a salacious news report or a Facebook post can get you fired.   And worse, after being unceremoniously fired, you stand a 50/50 chance of being thrown under the bus and publicly smeared on Twitter by a vindictive President.

 

Dunno, Admiral, but you might want to give this more thought than President Trump did.  For your own sake.

Edited March 29, 2018 by 55Jay

[Srikcir]

4 hours ago, 55Jay said:

Does this mean RADM Jackson has to retire from active duty first? 

I would think so - as a condition if approved for appointment by the Senate.

The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and second to last at sixteenth in the line of succession to the presidency. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_Veterans_Affairs

To allow an active duty military officer in the line of succession to the US presidency removes civilian control of the government. Contrast that with Trump's appointment of Gen. H.R. McMaster to NSA Director. That position is not a Cabinet position and doesn't require Senate confirmation. In fact as an active duty officer, McMaster had to obey such assignment from his commander-in-chief or retire.

[Morch]

Shulkin's op-ed in the New York Times:

 

David J. Shulkin: Privatizing the V.A. Will Hurt Veterans

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/28/opinion/shulkin-veterans-affairs-privatization.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region

 

 

[ballpoint]

8 hours ago, 55Jay said:

Seems like he leaned back in his leather chair and chose the first person that popped into his head, in like 30 seconds.

 

VA. OK, that's the Vets, right?  I love Vets, they're all great guys.

Vets have medical problems.  They need Doctors.

Oh, Hey!  My Doctor is a Doctor!  He knows about medical stuff!

Vets.  Uniforms.  My Doctor wears a uniform.

Ok, so it's decided.  This job is so easy!   What's for lunch?

 

Does this mean RADM Jackson has to retire from active duty first?  I wonder, does the guy even want to leave the Navy?   He's got 23 years in, already an 07/RADM, tracking for at least 3 stars by the time he hits 30 years.  That's a sweet pension.

 

Versus all the sudden, out of nowhere, yanked out of your career because you're convenient and look good, to be thrown into a chaotic, meat grinder of a presidential administration, told to fix a screwed up Department staffed with less than stellar employees, where a salacious news report or a Facebook post can get you fired.   And worse, after being unceremoniously fired, you stand a 50/50 chance of being thrown under the bus and publicly smeared on Twitter by a vindictive President.

 

Dunno, Admiral, but you might want to give this more thought than President Trump did.  For your own sake.

Yep.  Watch your rear, admiral.