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Fired Veterans Affairs Secretary Says He Was Ousted for Opposing Privatization of Agency

HeadlineMar 29, 2018

The turmoil in the White House continues, as President Trump fired Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin and said he’d replace him with White House physician, Dr. Ronny Jackson, a rear admiral in the Navy. Dr. Jackson has no experience running a large agency. The Department of Veterans Affairs is the federal government’s second-largest department, with 360,000 employees. Shulkin had been facing criticism for various ethics violations, including using taxpayer money to pay for his wife’s airfare during a trip to Europe last summer. In a New York Times op-ed published Wednesday, Shulkin says he’s actually being ousted because of his opposition to privatizing the Veterans Affairs agency. He wrote, “They saw me as an obstacle to privatization who had to be removed. That is because I am convinced that privatization is a political issue aimed at rewarding select people and companies with profits, even if it undermines care for veterans.”

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