Secretary for Veterans Affairs (VA) David Shulkin blamed several political appointees in his department of attempting to undermine him and his policies.
Shulkin, in an interview with The New York Times, said that he was currently investigating some political appointees in the agency for misconduct and might have them removed, claiming they were “trying to undermine the department from within.”
“If there are people here who don’t want the VA to succeed, I want them out,” he said.
The Times also reports that several officials said Shulkin has already spoken with White House chief of staff John Kelly about his worries over the political appointees.
As the last remaining Obama administration appointee, at the beginning Shulkin had a working relationship with the White House. However, according to reports he had several conflicts with administration officials in recent months.
According to The Hill, President Donald Trump had campaigned on offering veterans more options for health care, but the VA secretary has backed a more moderate plan that would only offer private care when wait times are too long at veterans’ facilities.
“He has shown total disdain for the White House,” one White House official told The Times. “This isn’t ideological; it is just what the president wants. He wants veterans to have choice.”
However, according to a December email sent by the White House senior adviser on veteran affairs, Jake Leinenkugel said that there is a possibility of removing some of Shulkins’ top staffers leading to the removal of Shulkin himself.
The Times reported that Leinenkugel wrote in his email sent to a political appointee at the VA that while he initially approved of Shulkin, they were now arguing over staff and policies.
Meanwhile, Shulkin is under pressure from the VA inspector general who found that he had improperly used taxpayer dollars during a trip to Europe. Shulkin apparently spent most of the Europe trip sightseeing, misused government resources by having the VA cover the cost of his wife’s airfare and improperly accepted tickets to Wimbledon.
Shulkin denied some of the findings, adding that he has already reimbursed the government for the cost of his wife’s plane tickets.
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