This article is from the source 'bbc' 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.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43578598
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Trump picks his doctor to replace Shulkin as veterans secretary | Trump picks his doctor to replace Shulkin as veterans secretary |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| US President Donald Trump has announced the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin and picked his doctor to replace him. | US President Donald Trump has announced the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin and picked his doctor to replace him. |
| Thanking Mr Shulkin in a tweet, he said he intended to nominate Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson, who gave him his first medical as president in January. | Thanking Mr Shulkin in a tweet, he said he intended to nominate Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson, who gave him his first medical as president in January. |
| Unnamed officials told Reuters Mr Shulkin had become a distraction due to speculation about his future. | Unnamed officials told Reuters Mr Shulkin had become a distraction due to speculation about his future. |
| A Pentagon official, Robert Wilkie, will be the acting secretary. | A Pentagon official, Robert Wilkie, will be the acting secretary. |
| It is the latest in a series of departures from Mr Trump's cabinet, which has already seen high-profile changes this month. | |
| Why was Shulkin under a cloud? | |
| Previously held in high regard in public by the president, Mr Shulkin's position had been under mounting pressure. | |
| A report released in February from an internal watchdog found "serious derelictions by VA personnel" on a trip to Europe last year. | |
| The report accused the secretary of improperly accepting tickets to the Wimbledon tennis tournament whilst on the visit and using the trip to sightsee. | |
| He denied the accusations but agreed to comply with the report's recommendations, including reimbursing the government for his wife's airfare for the trip, which was more than $4,300 (£3,000). | |
| Verna Jones, executive director of the American Legion, told CBS radio the organisation was sad to see Mr Shulkin go. | |
| "We think that Secretary Shulkin had done a tremendous job for veterans," she said. | |
| "Under Secretary Shulkin's leadership of the veterans agenda had been moved - and more than we could have expected." | |
| Rear Admiral Jackson has been working as a presidential physician since George W Bush's administration. |