{"id":34293,"date":"2018-09-26T22:27:40","date_gmt":"2018-09-26T22:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/26\/wilkie-touts-a-calmer-reformed-va-in-his-first-congressional-test\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:07:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:07:31","slug":"wilkie-touts-a-calmer-reformed-va-in-his-first-congressional-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/2018\/09\/26\/wilkie-touts-a-calmer-reformed-va-in-his-first-congressional-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Wilkie touts a calmer, reformed VA in his first congressional test"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Less than two months into his term leading the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/02\/18\/who-is-in-charge-at-the-department-of-veterans-affairs\/\" target=_blank>Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/07\/23\/senate-confirms-robert-wilkie-as-next-va-secretary-but-with-opposition\/\" target=_blank>Secretary Robert Wilkie<\/a> insists the department is finally on the right track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have a full organizational tree of people I\u2019ve been able to bring in, including the chief of staff and a new acting deputy. \u2026 I\u2019m very happy the institution has calmed down,\u201d he said at an appearance on Capitol Hill Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI believe it\u2019s a no-partisan institution, and I\u2019m going to do my best to make sure that people feel good about working at VA. I think it\u2019s very different.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether that calmness will continue remains to be seen. Wilkie, President Donald Trump\u2019s replacement for<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/03\/28\/shulkin-out-trump-fires-va-secretary-after-weeks-of-controversy\/\" target=_blank> David Shulkin<\/a> \u2014 the VA secretary he fired via social media this spring \u2014 was peppered with questions from skeptical senators Wednesday at his first congressional hearing since taking over the veterans bureaucracy.<\/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\/07\/23\/here-are-the-biggest-issues-facing-the-new-veterans-affairs-secretary\/\" 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=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/40305932240_b1b68b3ab3_o.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\">Here are the biggest issues facing the new Veterans Affairs secretary<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Robert Wilkie steps into a department which has seen multiple accomplishments and multiple headaches in recent months.<\/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\">Among the questions: Is the workforce morale improving? Are Trump\u2019s business friends outside government unduly influencing department policy? And can senators expect real changes from Wilkie after hearing similar promises from past VA leaders?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite \u2014 or because of \u2014 a budget that has swelled to over $200 billion for fiscal 2019, VA has faced a steady drumbeat of criticism from lawmakers since 2014, when then-VA Secretary Eric Shinseki was forced to resign over allegations of records manipulation by senior staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since then, VA leaders have worked to restore congressional and public trust in the institution, with mixed results. Wilkie\u2019s next test on that will come on Thursday, when VA officials brief lawmakers on his work developing new rules for a forthcoming overhaul of department community care programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both the new secretary and president have repeatedly said they\u2019re offering more \u201cchoice\u201d to veterans in their health care options, and Congress in June finalized a series of sweeping changes designed to ease the path for veterans to get VA to cover the costs of a host of outside medical appointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But developing the rule \u2014 a process expected to take months \u2014 will require carefully balancing issues of health care flexibility with concerns over privatizing much of the VA\u2019s core mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilkie on several occasions, including Wednesday, has said he is opposed to privatizing the department. Democrats in both chambers have said they fear the new standards, if written too broadly, could do just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several on the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee also confronted Wilkie over reports that a trio of businessmen with membership to Trump\u2019s Florida Mar-a-Lago country club have had significant influence over past VA policy, including being involved in the firing of Shulkin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilkie said he has only met with the men once, an hour-long meeting when he was acting secretary, and insisted they have no policy role today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI am committed to making sure I am the sole person accountable to you,\u201d he said, adding that while he is open to outside advice, no VA staff are currently consulting with the men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As he did in his confirmation hearing, Wilkie listed his top priorities as implementing the new community care reforms, advancing work on joint military and VA medical records, reforming department business practices and \u201cto make accessing VA services seamless, effective, efficient and emotionally resonant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The son of a wounded Vietnam veteran, Wilkie said he understands the national importance of the department, and vowed to see it succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI am happy to say that the state of VA is better \u2014 better because of the work of this committee, the attention paid to veterans by the administration, better because we have a functioning, experienced leadership team in place,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re better because the turmoil of the first seven months of 2018 is in the rear view mirror.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/wwp?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@wwp<\/a> attended <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DeptVetAffairs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@DeptVetAffairs<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SecWilkie?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SecWilkie<\/a>&#39;s live testimony on The State of the VA. In case you missed it, you can check out the full testimony here:  <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/eW0uCUYh1g\">https:\/\/t.co\/eW0uCUYh1g<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Nxl3lmnZPV\">pic.twitter.com\/Nxl3lmnZPV<\/a><\/p>&mdash; WWP (@wwp) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/wwp\/status\/1045076282919342081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 26, 2018<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just two months into his tenure leading VA, the new secretary promised significant culture changes for the department.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":68386,"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":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,93,12,25,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3226],"class_list":["post-34293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"7LKYAYNBJNHBVIX44NMJXI22R4","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/09\/26\/wilkie-touts-a-calmer-reformed-va-in-his-first-congressional-test\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - 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