The White House now maintains former Veterans Affairs chief David Shulkin resigned his position this week as secretary of the department, despite reports where he said he had been fired earlier this week by President Donald Trump's chief of staff John Kelly, Politico reported Saturday.
Shulkin, the last Cabinet official appointed by former President Barack Obama, was reportedly fired amid worsening relations among top VA officials and claims he improperly used taxpayer dollars for personal benefit, the article explained. He claimed he was fired when he received a phone call this week from Kelly delivering the news.
However, on Saturday, VA spokeswoman Lindsey Walter said in a statement to Politico "Secretary Shulkin resigned from his position as Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs."
Shulkin's conversation with Kelly came just hours after he had a phone call with Trump who did not mention the firing, but said the president mentioned he "wasn't happy with the pace" of operations at the agency.
"Every Cabinet member serves at the pleasure of the president and it's the president's prerogative to have a team around him that he thinks is doing the job," Shulkin told Fox News on Thursday.
Trump tweeted Wednesday he was removing Shulkin and replacing him with Adm. Ronny Jackson, MD, who is the physician to U.S. presidents. Trump bypassed the VA's deputy secretary, which, according to Politico, could present legal challenges since the law is not clear as to the president's authority to hand-pick replacements for Cabinet secretaries when they are ousted.
In announcing Shulkin's removal earlier this week, Trump named Defense Department official Robert Wilkie to be acting secretary of the VA, who could serve many months as acting head of the department while Jackson awaits Senate confirmation.
Decisions Wilkie makes in the meantime could face legal challenges by those who may claim he didn't have the authority to render decisions. A challenge to Trump's authority to appoint Wilkie would be unprecedented say legal experts, Politico explained.
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