This article is from the source 'independent' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/veterans-affairs-secretary-david-shulkin-resignation-donald-trump-administration-ronny-jackson-a8278726.html
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Donald Trump's veteran's affair's secretary David Shulkin becomes the latest member of his administration to be ousted | Donald Trump's veteran's affair's secretary David Shulkin becomes the latest member of his administration to be ousted |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| President Donald Trump has ousted another high ranking member of his administration, Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin, in the latest in a series of high profile departures as the White House shakes up its operations. | President Donald Trump has ousted another high ranking member of his administration, Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin, in the latest in a series of high profile departures as the White House shakes up its operations. |
| The decision, announced by Mr Trump in a tweet, follows after weeks of speculation about what would happen to Mr Shulkin, and whether his job was safe. | The decision, announced by Mr Trump in a tweet, follows after weeks of speculation about what would happen to Mr Shulkin, and whether his job was safe. |
| Mr Trump said that he was nominating Navy Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson to replace his outgoing secretary, while praising Mr Shulkin's service in Washington. | Mr Trump said that he was nominating Navy Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson to replace his outgoing secretary, while praising Mr Shulkin's service in Washington. |
| "I am thankful for Dr David Shulkin's service to our country and to our great VETERANS!" Mr Trump tweeted. | "I am thankful for Dr David Shulkin's service to our country and to our great VETERANS!" Mr Trump tweeted. |
| Robert Wilkie, an undersecretary at the Pentagon, will fill in for Mr Shulkin until the Senate can approve Mr Jackson's nomination. | Robert Wilkie, an undersecretary at the Pentagon, will fill in for Mr Shulkin until the Senate can approve Mr Jackson's nomination. |
| Mr Shulkin's departure follows after months in which he has been locked in a power struggle with some senior White House staff members, who have wanted him to be removed from his post. His leaving suggests that they were eventually able to convince Mr Trump that the Veteran's Affairs secretary — who was an appointee of President Barack Obama — needed to go. | |
| The outgoing secretary had pledged during his tenure that the VA would not be privatised while he was in charge, and had promised expanded opportunities for veterans to get care in the private sector. Political appointees in the White House who wanted him to be given the boot have pushed for a more comprehensive overhaul of the system to go further and provide even more access to VA-funded are in private sector health networks. | |
| Mr Shulkin's departure marks a sharp 180 for the secretary, who Mr Trump was praising as recently as a few weeks ago for doing a "great" and "incredible" job at the helm of the VA. | |
| But Mr Shulkin turned that tide of compliments around by publicly warring with an VA inspector general's report that found he and his staff had committed ethics violations while planning and then during a trip to Europe last year. | |
| He first disputed the findings that he had improperly accepted tickets to Wimbledon, and for his wife's airfare during the 10-day trip. He proceeded from there to refuse to accept the report's findings that his chief of staff had misled ethics officials to get his wife's airfare cleared. | |
| While Mr Shulkin later apologised and expressed regret for those actions —and repaid the airfare — his behaviour left a bad taste in the mouths of members of Congress, veterans groups, and other stakeholders in the department's healthy operation who might have spoken in his defence, and many of those groups stayed silent as he publicly disputed the report. That period of silence reportedly left the senior White House political appointees with a window to push for his ouster. | |
| More follows… | More follows… |