Posted on 03/14/2018 12:38:17 PM PDT by Kaslin
President Donald Trump is expected to fire VA Secretary David Shulkin and is strongly considering replacing him with U.S. Army Veteran Pete Hegseth, according to three sources who spoke to Townhall under the condition of anonymity. It has been rumored former Texas Governor Rick Perry is also on the list for the job.
It has been widely reported President Trump called Hegseth on Monday during a meeting with Shulkin in the Oval Office to go over options for reform. According to Axios, Trump specifically asked Hegseth to analyze new VA legislation while Shulkin listened in on speaker phone.
Since Shulkin took over, the VA has continued to be riddled with scandal and a number of reports show veterans are still dying as a result of bad care. The Secretary has also come under fire for lavish taxpayer spending on personal trips.
Hegseth was an original contender to lead the agency during the Trump transition into the White House and worked for years as the President of Concerned Veterans for America on VA reform. At the time, he was backed by a number of VA whistleblowers for the position. Hegseth has been deployed overseas three times and served in Guantanamo Bay. He is an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran with two Bronze Stars. He is currently the weekend host for Fox and Friends and a senior analyst for Fox News.
In recent weeks, the heat on Shulkin has increased as the White House and President Trump have lost patience with his lack of performance. Trump campaigned on VA reform and sources say Shulkin is a creature of government averse to accountability or private care options.
Shulkin is the only Trump Cabinet member who remains after being held over from the Obama administration. He was unanimously confirmed by the Senate last year.
I hope this Shulkin obamabot gets the boot. I always view Rats as acting in bad faith, no matter what the issue.
Well, at least no one could ever doubt that Hegseth is committed to serving veterans.
Awesome choice!!
It has been over a year now. There’s no excuse that a whole lot hasn’t happened to make the VA better.
Indeed.
He sure is.
Whoa. Pete’s a good guy with dedication to the vets but does he have management skills for this?
Throwing a fresh secretary at it probably isn’t going to change the crap culture of the VA. Just another federal agency that needs to be scrapped to bare bones and privatized to the maximum extent possible.
Privatizing would be better for everybody but VA career employees.
And therein lies the rub.
I saw him last weekend on F&F, they were doing some kind of military training special and he was outside with the others talking to the military guys running the event.
Hegseth, in a suit, jumped up, grabbed the bar and knocked out about 10 perfect pull-ups. Didn't even slow down.
Dropped from the bar and kept talking.
I am betting Trump knows that the end of Mueller is nigh and he’s gearing up to start the real housecleaning. It is just a damned shame what Sessions, by his “recusal out of the box” has done to more than a year of Trump’s first four. For that reason alone, I’d be getting on with $hit canning him too, the worthless little Southern-fried pr!ck! I can’t believe those here who characterize him as some “darth vader” legal wizard. He’s just an old man given a job that’s way, way too big for him, or he’s simply a GOPE plant sent in to eff things up.
VA reform has been on ongoing battle since I can remember. My late father retired from the Army in 1963 and fought them everyday of his life until he died in 1990. He even testified at 2 congressional hearings in the mid 70’s. If he was still alive he would be fighting them. He was a war fighter and he would never give up, but this was a war he couldn’t win.
Agreed but I really like the guy on Fox and Friends.
Hegseth has my vote.
Wow! Hegseth would be marvelous!
Sure. Just fire all the top level staff and replace them with vets, too. And demand that VA doctors perform as well as those in private practice. I read several years ago that the average VA doctor sees about a third as many patients as private practice doctors but doesn’t spend any more time with his patients.
Yup! Plus he’s very easy on the eyes!
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