A new report claims Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin has an armed guard posted outside his office and that he distrusts many people in the Trump administration, to the point that he has canceled regular meetings with executive branch appointees.
The Washington Post outlined Shulkin's current situation in a lengthy story Friday as the former healthcare executive deals with multiple scandals and problems within the troubled agency.
Among the revelations are that Shulkin, who took over running the VA last February, only holds meetings with aides he feels are loyal to him because he fears that what he says could be distorted. He also has installed an armed guard outside his office, which sits on the top floor of the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Shulkin also blocked access to his executive suite to people he thought were trying to convince President Donald Trump to fire him.
The VA was mired in several problems when Shulkin took over last year, including a wait list scandal that resulted in dozens of veterans dying while waiting to see a doctor and unsanitary conditions at VA facilities nationwide.
Recent reports suggested some VA facilities are still plagued with problems, including one in Miami that provided veterans with the wrong HIV test results. Shulkin also was accused of using taxpayer money to pay for a European trip he took with his wife, which mixed business and vacation time.
Shulkin has attempted to fire a half-dozen of his senior managers and was told by White House chief of staff John Kelly he was legally allowed to do that if they were not being loyal to him. White House officials told the Post, however, that Kelly actually told Shulkin he could not fire people on the basis of disloyalty.
"It's taken a lot of my effort not to get distracted," Shulkin told the Post in a separate interview.
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