The political animal that Perry is would refuse the VA job in a New York minute. It’s a no-win situation where you are both trying to reign in runaway spending and be accountable for every soldier that dies in a hospital.
The VA job is just a set-up to be fired. The only reason for taking it would be because you are close to a federal pension but need a few more months.
Kelly succeeds Reince, Nielsen succeeds Kelly, Pompeo succeeds Tillerson and Haspel succeeds Pompeo. If nothing else it’s a good strategy to blunt the democrats confirmation hearing grandstanding. Hard for them to get all up in arms over people they’ve already confirmed once.