Donald Trump has reportedly been eyeing replacing his secretary of veteran affairs, David Shulkin, ever since a detailed inspector general report of Shulkin's taxpayer funded tour of Europe broke last month. But Trump, who has the gutless habit of firing people by tweet, just can't seem to pull the trigger on Shulkin's ouster. The New York Times writes:
The peculiar, painful dance between the president and his once-prized veterans affairs chief has become a symbol for how Mr. Trump often handles personnel matters — publicly, without concern for ending the drama quickly, and with a hope that offending employees will decide to leave instead of forcing the president to oust them. In this case, the standoff has left rudderless a vast federal bureaucracy of about 370,000 employees that serves more than 20 million veterans.
Exactly when the latest White House drama would conclude was still uncertain on Tuesday. Mr. Trump told friends over the weekend that he planned to fire Mr. Shulkin in the immediate future. But Monday came and went without any change and the president’s advisers said he had no clear option for an immediate successor.
Trump had big plans and big promises for veterans when he was running for office in 2016, but now his agenda has stalled based on his indecisiveness, among other things. He is the essence of weak leadership.
Shulkin continues to have the support of most legitimate veteran groups despite the optics of his European vacation. But among several possible replacements for him is Fox newsie Pete Hegseth, former leader of a sham veterans group funded by the Koch brothers.
Another potential nominee, Pete Hegseth, is said to be uninterested in the nomination. Mr. Hegseth is a weekend co-host of “Fox & Friends” who formerly ran Concerned Veterans for America, a conservative veterans advocacy group backed by the billionaire brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch. The group has led the push to let veterans use their government benefits at private doctors.
Hegseth would be a disaster for actual veterans and veterans care. But one way or the other, efforts to improve the VA will be hamstrung by Trump for the foreseeable future.