{"id":66398,"date":"2018-05-30T14:09:10","date_gmt":"2018-05-30T14:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/30\/wilkie-steps-down-as-acting-va-secretary-top-deputy-retires\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:13:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:13:22","slug":"wilkie-steps-down-as-acting-va-secretary-top-deputy-retires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2018\/05\/30\/wilkie-steps-down-as-acting-va-secretary-top-deputy-retires\/","title":{"rendered":"Big changes for VA\u2019s leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The White House named Peter O\u2019Rourke as acting Veterans Affairs secretary after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/05\/21\/wilkies-va-nomination-raises-more-short-term-department-leadership-questions\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Robert Wilkie<\/a> stepped down from the post to begin his formal confirmation process for the department\u2019s permanent top job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The move had been expected since President Donald Trump announced on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/05\/18\/in-another-surprise-trump-names-wilkie-as-the-next-va-secretary\/\"> May 18 that he was nominating Wilkie<\/a>, the Pentagon\u2019s top personnel and readiness official, for the vacant VA secretary job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilkie had served in an acting role since March, when Trump fired David Shulkin from the post amid infighting at the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Naming O\u2019Rouke as the interim department head once again bypasses VA Deputy Secretary Thomas Bowman for the post. Bowman announced he will retire from federal service on June 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Veterans groups had complained that administration officials<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/05\/16\/democrats-call-for-firing-of-vas-top-technology-official\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\"> violated federal law<\/a> by skipping over Bowman in March, and a pair of advocacy organizations have a pending lawsuit against the White House to invalidate decisions made by Wilkie as acting secretary.<\/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\/05\/23\/massive-veterans-policy-bill-heads-to-trumps-desk-but-results-will-take-time\/\" 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=\"203\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_821518132423.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\">Massive veterans policy bill heads to Trump\u2019s desk, but results will take time<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Provisions for new community care rules and caregiver stipend expansion won&#039;t happen overnight.<\/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\">But similar to Shulkin, Bowman fought with White House officials over a host of policy issues in recent months, and avoided being fired by Trump largely because of the controversies surrounding Shulkin\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The flurry of moves Tuesday make O\u2019Rourke the second consecutive interim secretary \u2014 the first time that has happened since the department became a Cabinet-level agency 30 years ago \u2014 and marks a rapid rise up the ranks of VA for the former Trump campaign official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">O\u2019Rourke joined VA in May 2017 as the head of the new department accountability office but was promoted to chief of staff in February when Vivieca Wright Simpson resigned from the post amid controversy surrounding her involvement in a scandal involving Shulkin\u2019s overseas travel.<\/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\/04\/30\/lawsuit-calls-acting-va-secretary-wilkies-appointment-illegal-demands-immediate-removal\/\" 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\/4043378-1.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\">Lawsuit calls acting VA Secretary Wilkie\u2019s appointment illegal, demands immediate removal<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Critics allege that the White House violated federal law by skipping over the department&#039;s deputy secretary for the job.<\/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\">O\u2019Rourke is a Navy and Air Force veteran who also worked on veterans issues with Trump\u2019s transition team. The White House announced that Jacquelyn Hayes-Byrd, his deputy, will serve as acting chief of staff while O\u2019Rourke serves as acting secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The moves leave four of the department\u2019s top six positions vacant or filled with temporary appointees. The VA undersecretary for health post has been without a permanent replacement since Shulkin was promoted to the top department post in February 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No timeline has been announced for when Wilkie\u2019s confirmation hearing could take place, although Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee Chairman Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., has promised to move quickly on the issue next month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Navy and Air Force vet is taking over the top spot for now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":35060,"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":25,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[29,116,117,15,25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3347],"class_list":["post-66398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-news","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"REOKBFOYUFCB5B3XPLDWFD6ZWM","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2018\/05\/30\/wilkie-steps-down-as-acting-va-secretary-top-deputy-retires\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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