Ex-VA Secretary David Shulkin on talk show: ‘I did not resign’
David Shulkin, former Veterans Affairs secretary, speaks at a news conference at the Washington Veterans Affairs Medical Center on March 7. Credit: AP / Andrew Harnik
Former Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin said Sunday he did not resign from his post last week and continued to blame “subversive” political appointees in the department for pushing an agenda intended to privatize veterans’ services.
“I did not resign,” Shulkin said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” He said he “would not resign because I’m committed to making sure this job was seen through to the very end.”
President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced in a tweet that Shulkin would be replaced by his White House physician, Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, who also served under former President Barack Obama. The White House said late last week that Shulkin technically resigned.
Shulkin on Sunday denied resigning, saying on NBC’s “Meet the Press” he received a phone call from chief of staff John Kelly shortly before Trump’s tweet.
“General Kelly gave me a call very shortly before the tweet came out,” Shulkin said on “Meet the Press,” adding he and the president had spoken “just a few hours before,” and “we had set up a meeting for the very next day . . . This [being replaced] was somewhat of a surprise.”
Shulkin acknowledged that privatization was a point of contention during his tenure at the agency.
“Some political appointees felt that we needed to be much more aggressive than I was willing to, and so they saw me as an obstacle,” Shulkin said. “These individuals though, when they didn’t see that their way was being adopted, used subversive techniques to be able to change leadership at the VA,” Shulkin said.
Trump said during a speech in Ohio on Thursday that he “wasn’t happy with the speed with which our veterans were taken care of” and that he wanted veterans to have the ability to “run to a private doctor” if they wanted to.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” called Shulkin’s removal “a massive effort to privatize agencies of the United States government and to give them over to private corporations.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) said on “Fox News Sunday” that Jackson will “get confirmed because he’s made life and death decisions on the battlefield.”
Sanders said he recently spoke with Jackson about Veterans Affairs and during that conversation, Jackson told him “somebody needs to make sure that no veteran has to wait too long or drive too far to get basic health care.”
“You need someone to go into the VA who’s willing to fight the bureaucracy,” Graham said.
The difference between whether Shulkin resigned or was fired could have repercussions on potential legal challenges to decisions made by his temporary successor, according to published reports. Shulkin’s deputy was next in line to succeed him, but Trump named Defense Department official Robert Wilkie as the acting leader of the department.
Scott Eidler covers Nassau County government and politics for Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.
