Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin "has done a great job" despite a damning report from the agency's internal watchdog contending that "failed leadership" has put patients at one major hospital at risk, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday.
"A number of things have been improved upon," Sanders told reporters at the daily briefing. "We're going to do everything we can to protect veterans and help veterans in this country."
The 150-page report released Wednesday added new details to the VA inspector general's report last April of patient-safety issues at the medical center in Washington.
The IG found that found that at least three VA program offices directly supervised by Shulkin knew of "serious, persistent deficiencies" when he was a VA undersecretary from 2015 to 2016.
However, the watchdog stopped short of saying whether he was told about them.
Sanders said Wednesday that President Donald Trump told Shulkin to "take an aggressive approach" to reforming the VA when he elevated him last year — "and he has done that since becoming secretary."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.