Trump nominates acting VA Secretary to fill role permanently
After President Donald Trump’s last nominee for VA Secretary withdrew from consideration over numerous allegations about his personal conduct and prescribing habits, Trump has picked Acting VA Secretary Robert Wilkie to take over the role.
Trump made the announcement before he was scheduled to speak about prison reform, quipping that Wilkie himself didn’t know about the nomination and he had “ruined the surprise.”
“Acting Secretary Wilkie, who by the way has done an incredible job, and by the way I'll be informing him in a little while—he doesn't know this yet—that we'll be putting his name up for nomination,” the president said.
Wilkie has been serving as acting secretary ever since David Shulkin, MD, left the post in March. After the controversy surrounding Trump’s next pick, White House physician Ronny Jackson, MD, he’s chosen a man in Wilkie who has already been confirmed by the Senate for his current role (Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Department of Defense) and someone who’s known to Senate Republicans, having worked under Sen. Thom Thills, R-North Carolina, as well as former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.
Unlike Shulkin and Jackson, Wilkie doesn’t hold a medical degree. His academic credentials include an honors degree from Wake Forest University, Juris Doctor from Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans, Master of Laws in international and comparative law and from Georgetown University and a Masters in strategic studies from the United States Army War College.
Since taking over at the VA after Shulkin’s departure, Wilkie completed one of the major tasks predecessor left unresolved: Finalizing the contract for Cerner to replace the VA’s in-house electronic health record system. Those moves have drawn praise from veterans’ groups like AMVETS.
“Robert Wilkie has clearly been working hard to learn the many extremely complicated and most pressing issues facing veterans right now,” said AMVETS Executive Director Joe Chenelly. “His early work has earned him the confidence of AMVETS, and we’re looking forward to a thorough but hopefully speedy confirmation process.”
John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.