President Trump shakes hands with White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson as he boards Marine One on Jan. 12, 2018, after his first medical check-up as president.

President Trump shakes hands with White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson as he boards Marine One on Jan. 12, 2018, after his first medical check-up as president. Carolyn Kaster/AP

Trump Fires Shulkin, Taps Personal Physician Ronny Jackson to Lead VA

While a leadership change at the Veterans Affairs Department had been predicted, the nomination of Jackson surprised many.

President Trump on Wednesday fired Veterans Affairs Department Secretary David Shulkin, ending weeks of speculation surrounding the embattled agency head.

In what has become a pattern, Trump announced his decision over Twitter. He said he will nominate Navy Adm. Ronny Jackson, who has served as the White House physician since 2013, to replace Shulkin at VA. In the interim, Trump said, current Defense Department Undersecretary for Personnel and Readiness will serve as acting director. The president said he was “thankful for Dr. David Shulkin’s service.”

Rumors about Shulkin’s ouster began circulating in February after an inspector general faulted the secretary for a trip he took to Europe in 2017. Auditors found Shulkin inappropriately accepted gifts while abroad and allowed the government to pay for his wife’s travel. Shulkin since reimbursed the government for those costs, but has maintained he followed the advice of ethics officials throughout his tenure. He further blamed internal politics within the department for his controversies, saying other Trump administration officials at both VA and the White House were seeking to undermine him because he was not pursuing sufficient private health care access for veterans.

Shulkin continued to create headlines after becoming his own spokesman and repeatedly stating he would rid VA of his political enemies.

The secretary’s fate may have been sealed when a subsequent IG report found the Veterans Health Administration, which he helmed for two years under President Obama, was negligent in providing care for veterans at its Washington, D.C. medical facility. Leadership, the auditors concluded, created a “culture of complacency.” Shulkin was the lone member of Trump’s cabinet to serve in an appointed position during the Obama administration.

A third IG report this week cited VHA, again during the period in which Shulkin was its leader, for failing to conduct mandatory background investigations for thousands of medical professionals.

Key lawmakers and veterans service organizations had been unwavering in their support for Shulkin, saying they had developed good relationships with the secretary and they wanted him in place to see through reforms that were already underway or in development.

Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., who chairs the House Veterans Affairs Committee, praised Shulkin in a statement, but said he understood Trump’s decision and looked forward to building a relationship with Jackson.

“At the end of the day, cabinet secretaries serve at the pleasure of the president,” Roe said. “I have enjoyed getting to know Secretary Shulkin, and I’m glad to call David a friend. I think he’s done a fantastic job and I hate to see him go.”

The American Legion's National Commander Denise Rohan, which counts 2 million veterans in its membership, also applauded Shulkin's tenure and wished him well in the future.

“Secretary Shulkin has acted in the best interests of America’s veterans and was making meaningful, positive changes at the VA," Rohan said. "The American Legion looks forward to working directly with the President through this transition and going forward, and providing him an increased level of advice and feedback on the issues important to America’s veterans."

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.