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David Shulkin, Veterans Affairs secretary, out, Trump announces by tweet

Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman called for Shulkin to resign after a report revealed his office improperly accepted gifts and then mislead investigators.
Credit: Mark Wilson
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 15: Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin appears before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on March 15, 2018 in Washington, DC.

Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin is being replaced, President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday, ending weeks of speculation and uncertainty about his fate.

He had been locked for months in a power struggle with a group of Trump political appointees among his senior staff who wanted him out. His ouster suggests they won the president over in the end, convincing Trump that the 58-year-old former hospital executive and Obama appointee was the wrong fit to lead the agency and too moderate.

Shulkin had pledged the VA would not be privatized on his watch but would provide veterans expanded opportunities to get private sector care. The political appointees want a more comprehensive overhaul and to give veterans even more access to VA-funded care in the private sector.

It was a dramatic and swift fall for a Cabinet secretary Trump had praised several weeks ago for doing such a “great” and “incredible” job leading the charge to fulfill his pledges to improve the VA.

In January, Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman questioned VA officials about the overdue and over-budget VA hospital, which will open in Aurora this summer.

At the time, he called for the head of the VA to "clean house."

"I will ask Dr. Shulkin and ask the president to clean house and that's what he should have done from day one, and it hasn't been done," Coffman said.

Weeks after this, Coffman called for Shulkin himself to resign after a report revealed his office improperly accepted gifts and then mislead investigators.

RELATED | Rep. Mike Coffman: VA Secretary must resign

“The abuses detailed in the VA’s inspector general report violate the trust and integrity that our Veteran’s and taxpayers demand and deserve ... ," Rep. Coffman said in a statement. "Secretary [David] Shulkin has done little to clean up the VA and given the facts of this IG investigation, it’s clear to me that he lacks the moral authority to get the job done."

On Wednesday, Coffman released a statement about Shulkin's oust:

“Dr. Shulkin came from within the VA and did nothing to clean up the culture of bureaucratic incompetence that has defined the leadership at the VA. I’m absolutely convinced that only someone from outside the VA can clean up the VA, and I hope that Admiral Jackson will be Marine Corps tough in getting that mission accomplished. Our veterans deserve better.”

Shulkin was replaced by Admiral Ronny L. Jackson, MD. In the interim, Trump says, Hon. Robert Wilkie of DOD will serve as acting secretary.

Shulkin made it roughly 13 months in Trump's Cabinet. He was previously appointed by Obama as undersecretary for health at the VA in July 2015.

During his tenure, he directed increased transparency efforts, including a new website revealing wait times for VA care and quality comparisons to the private sector. Shulkin upped accountability efforts, swiftly removing hospital directors when problems with care were revealed, including in Manchester, N.H., and Washington. He set up a data-tracking center at headquarters in an effort to intervene before problems became crises.

Coffman will be a guest on Next with Kyle Clark today.

USATODAY contributed to this report

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