{"id":46709,"date":"2018-02-21T20:38:56","date_gmt":"2018-02-21T20:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/02\/21\/va-secretarys-job-appears-safe-for-now\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:54:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:54:57","slug":"va-secretarys-job-appears-safe-for-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/veterans\/2018\/02\/21\/va-secretarys-job-appears-safe-for-now\/","title":{"rendered":"VA secretary&#8217;s job appears safe, for now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 For now, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/02\/15\/amid-travel-scandal-shulkin-vows-to-root-out-division-within-va-leadership\/\" title=\"\" class=\"selected-link\" target=\"_blank\" data-original-title=\"\" aria-describedby=\"popover107576\">the coup attempt at the Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a> appears over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Veterans groups are receiving assurances from administration officials that VA Secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/02\/18\/who-is-in-charge-at-the-department-of-veterans-affairs\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">David Shulkin\u2019s job is not in jeopardy<\/a> following an explosive inspector general\u2019s report one week ago and a subsequent revolt from political appointees within his department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/02\/20\/white-house-offers-faint-support-for-embattled-va-secretary-shulkin\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">White House officials<\/a> have not offered formal comment on the matter beyond White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders saying on Tuesday that she has no indication that President Donald Trump has lost faith in Shulkin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2018\/02\/20\/white-house-has-remained-silent-va-secretary-david-shulkin-travel-scandal\/355463002\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">In an interview with USA Today<\/a> after that press conference, Shulkin said he has received assurances that he would remain in his Cabinet post. \u201cI\u2019m the secretary, I\u2019m in charge of carrying out the president\u2019s agenda, and that\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re going to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">American Legion Executive Director Verna Jones said her organization has been told that Shulkin\u2019s job is safe, and her organization is moving ahead under the assumption that they will be working with him as before on policy and legislative issues in the weeks ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI don\u2019t think our confidence in his ability to work on these issues has dropped that much,\u201d she told reporters on Wednesday. \u201cThere are still some people within VA who don\u2019t need to be there, and he will have to deal with that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2018\/02\/18\/who-is-in-charge-at-the-department-of-veterans-affairs\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_8039.JPG.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Who is in charge at the Department of Veterans Affairs?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Since a travel scandal broke on Wednesday, VA leadership has been embroiled in internal political fights that could result in the ousting of more top department leaders.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shulkin has said numerous times since the release of the report that he has concerns with individuals within his department who are not focused \u201con the best interests of veterans,\u201d and promised to address those issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Tuesday, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2018\/02\/20\/shulkin-veterans-agency-purge-417896\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">he told Politico<\/a> that his new chief of staff, Peter O\u2019Rourke, is conducting interviews with staffers involved in \u201csubversion\u201d at the department to determine what their future is at VA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The VA secretary has been in a public fight with White House officials and his own communications staff since the inspector general\u2019s findings were released. T<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/02\/14\/report-blasts-va-secretary-for-improper-gifts-and-travel-lying-to-cover-up-scandal\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">he report accused him<\/a> of multiple improprieties during an overseas trip last July, including improperly accepting Wimbledon tickets from an English businesswoman and using taxpayer dollars to pay for his wife\u2019s airfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shulkin has suggested that his previous chief of staff\u2019s emails were hacked as part of the scandal, and had his own statements responding to the allegations removed from the official VA website by his communications staff, at the direction of White House lawyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, an email from White House adviser Jake Leinenkugel surfaced recommending action against several Shulkin confidants to put the secretary \u201con notice\u201d that he needed to fall in line with other administration officials\u2019 priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So far, the only high-level staffing change at the department was the resignation of O\u2019Rourke\u2019s predecessor, Vivieca Wright Simpson, who was criticized in the IG report. But outside advocates say they expect more in coming days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"680\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_17269660789982.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-36756\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_17269660789982.jpg.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_17269660789982.jpg.jpg?resize=300,204 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_17269660789982.jpg.jpg?resize=768,522 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">President Donald Trump holds the Veteran&#8217;s Affairs Choice and Quality Employment Act of 2017 after signing it Aug. 12, 2017 at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminister, N.J. VA officials announced this week the Choice program is again running low on funding, threatening to disrupt care for thousands of veterans in January. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement late last week, House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee ranking member Tim Walz, D-Minn., blamed the internal divisions on \u201cthe Koch brothers and corporate interests at the center of an effort to take over and privatize VA to make money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officials at Disabled American Veterans criticized \u201cspecial interest groups who openly advocate shrinking and dismantling the VA\u201d within Trump\u2019s administration and urged lawmakers and the White House to help get rid of those elements within the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shulkin, 59, was among the last nominees for Trump\u2019s leadership team at the start of his presidency but also saw the easiest confirmation. No lawmakers on Capitol Hill raised concerns about the then-VA undersecretary for health, and he was approved by the Senate with a 100-0 vote (a show of support that Trump often invoked in public events with Shulkin.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although he was the only holdover in Trump\u2019s Cabinet from former President Barack Obama\u2019s administration, Shulkin received effusive praise through most of 2017 from the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On several occasions Trump invited Shulkin to high-profile events and bill signings to underscore his message of change and progress at VA headquarters. Shulkin briefed reporters in the White House press room directly three times, an unheard of move in the previous administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just last month, Trump lauded Shulkin during an Oval Office ceremony for \u201cthe greatest strides ever made at the VA for our veterans, and it\u2019s not even close.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shulkin told Military Times last week he is hopeful he can return to that kind of progress in the weeks to come, after putting the travel scandal and other internal conflicts in the past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The embattled department secretary said he has been told by White House officials that a recent travel scandal won&#8217;t cost him his job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":29761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":21,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,16,26,65,21],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3328],"class_list":["post-46709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"RC6GJKDFNVAXPFD72SFVEO6I2I","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2018\/02\/21\/va-secretarys-job-appears-safe-for-now\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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