Trump fires Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin

US President Donald Trump shook up his cabinet once again on Wednesday, firing embattled Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary David Shulkin and nominating White House doctor Ronny Jackson as his successor.

"I am pleased to announce that I intend to nominate highly respected Admiral Ronny L. Jackson, MD, as the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs," said Trump, who has also replaced his secretary of state and national security advisor in the last month.

"I am thankful for Dr. David Shulkin's service to our country and to our GREAT VETERANS!" he said on Twitter.

Pentagon official Robert Wilkie would serve as interim department chief until Jackson receives Congressional approval, the president added.

Shulkin's sacking had been widely predicted after he was accused of spending $122,000 on a nine-day trip to Europe with his wife, which included sightseeing at castles and taking in professional tennis matches.

He was one of the few senior officials in the Trump administration who had also served during the presidency of Barack Obama.

Jackson's stock with Trump rose after he pronounced in January that the 71-year-old president was in "excellent" health. After releasing the results from Trump's physical, Jackson said "he has incredible genes and that's the way God made him."

VoteVets, a progressive organization, urged Senators to "ask him blunt, direct questions about how the VA works" during his confirmation hearing. "We are concerned about his readiness to assume control," the group wrote on Twitter.

Shulkin's departure caps a dizzying month of changes to the Trump cabinet, most notably the sacking of Rex Tillerson as secretary of state on March 13.

Trump's top economic advisor Gary Cohn also exited the White House after the president announced plans to impose tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum, a policy Cohn did not endorse.

And National Security Advisor HR McMaster was axed only six days ago, replaced by the hardline Fox News pundit and former UN ambassador John Bolton.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is the second-largest federal agency after the Pentagon, employing 360,000 people.

Lack of funding has weakened the hospital network specifically dedicated to the health of military veterans -- a key constituency for Trump. And the system has come under criticism from many veterans and organizations for falling short, particularly in terms of psychiatric care.

Hundreds of thousands of veterans, many who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The 58-year-old Shulkin had served as undersecretary of veterans affairs for health under Obama. He previously worked as chief medical officer of the University of Pennsylvania health system.

Shulkin blamed his sudden ouster from the Trump administration on “political forces” that he says are bent on privatizing the agency and putting “companies with profits” over the care of veterans.

“They saw me as an obstacle to privatization who had to be removed,” Shulkin wrote in a New York Times op-ed Thursday.

He blasted a “toxic” and “subversive” environment in Washington that made it impossible for him to lead.

(Source: Wires)

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk