US President Donald Trump on Wednesday shook up his Cabinet once again, sacking embattled US Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin and nominating White House doctor Ronny Jackson as his successor.
“I am pleased to announce that I intend to nominate highly respected Admiral Ronny L. Jackson, MD, as the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs,” Trump said on Twitter. “I am thankful for Dr. David Shulkin’s service to our country and to our GREAT VETERANS!”
US Department of Defense official Robert Wilkie would serve as interim department head until Jackson receives approval from the US Congress, Trump added.
Shulkin’s sacking was widely predicted after he was accused of spending US$122,000 on a nine-day trip to Europe with his wife, which included sightseeing at castles and taking in professional tennis matches.
He was one of the few senior officials in the Trump administration who had also served during the term of former US president Barack Obama.
Jackson’s stock with Trump rose after he pronounced in January that the 71-year-old president was in “excellent” health.
After releasing the results from Trump’s physical, Jackson said: “He has incredible genes and that’s the way God made him.”
VoteVets, a progressive organization, urged senators to “ask him blunt, direct questions about how the VA works” during his confirmation hearing.
“We are concerned about his readiness to assume control,” the group wrote on Twitter.
Shulkin’s departure caps a dizzying month of changes to the Trump Cabinet, most notably the sacking of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on March 13.
Former White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn also exited the administration after Trump announced plans to impose tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum, a policy Cohn did not endorse, and former US national security advisor HR McMaster was axed only six days ago to be replaced by hardline Fox News pundit and former UN ambassador John Bolton.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs is the second-largest federal agency after the defense department, employing 360,000 people.
Lack of funding has weakened the hospital network specifically dedicated to the health of veterans — a key constituency for Trump — and the system has come under criticism from many veterans and organizations for falling short, particularly in terms of psychiatric care.
Hundreds of thousands of veterans, many who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Shulkin, 58, served as undersecretary of veterans’ affairs for health under Obama. He previously worked as chief medical officer of the University of Pennsylvania’s health system.
During his tenure as secretary, he oversaw legislative changes including an expansion of benefits for veterans who served after Sept. 11, 2001.
Following Trump’s announcement, US Representative Phil Roe, a Republican who chairs the US House of Representatives Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, praised Shulkin for a “fantastic job,” adding: “I hate to see him go.”
“That said, I respect President Trump’s decision, support the president’s agenda and remain willing to work with anyone committed to doing the right thing on behalf of our nation’s veterans,” Roe said.
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