The latest person forced out of the Trump administration is not going quietly. Former head of Veterans Affairs, David Shulkin, made the round of the Sunday shows insisting that he did not resign of his own accord, but was fired just moments before Trump announced his replacement in a tweet. Monday morning, the White House is hitting back.
In television interviews earlier Sunday, Shulkin said he had not submitted a resignation letter, or planned to, and was only told of Trump’s decision to replace him with White House doctor Ronny Jackson shortly before the Twitter announcement last Wednesday. He said he had spoken to Trump by phone earlier that day about VA improvements, with no mention of his job status, and was scheduled to meet with the president the next morning.
"I came to run the Department of Veterans Affairs because I'm committed to veterans," Shulkin said. "And I would not resign because I'm committed to making sure this job was seen through to the very end."
Last week, Trump named Defense Department official Robert Wilkie to the acting position, bypassing Shulkin's deputy secretary, Tom Bowman. Bowman has come under criticism for being too moderate to push Trump's agenda.
Why does it matter? Because of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998. That law gives the president the authority to temporarily fill a vacancy with an acting official if the current office holder "dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office." If Shulkin didn't resign, then Trump's appointment of Wilkie is not valid and Bowman should be in the job. It also means that actions and decisions Wilkie makes in the interim, before Trump's pick of Ronny Jackson is confirmed, could be subject to legal challenges because his legitimacy as head of the agency is in question.
This is the second time the administration has played fast and loose with the Vacancies Act. Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney is currently serving as the part-time director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an interim appointment that also circumvented the law and is currently being considered by the court.