It’s time for Shulkin to go
During the course of then candidate Donald Trump’s campaign, he repeatedly promised the American people that he would clean up the bureaucratic incompetence at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Unfortunately, he has yet to deliver on that promise. Given this concern, I personally wrote a letter to now President Trump requesting that he fire the VA Secretary, David J. Shulkin, and bring a true outsider to replace him.
The VA is an organization with nearly 378,000 employees, which is well over half the size of the United States Army at 476,000, yet it continues to fail to meet our nation’s obligations to the men and women who have made tremendous sacrifices in defense of our freedom. I believe the front-line VA employees want to do everything they can for our veterans, but those in the most senior positions of leadership are often part of a sedentary bureaucracy that is bloated and ineffective.
At the beginning of this Congress, when Shulkin was nominated by Trump to lead the VA, I was apprehensive about his confirmation because I remain convinced that only someone from outside of the VA can be counted on to clean up the VA. Because he seemed eager to work with Congress on VA reform(s), I gave him the benefit of the doubt.
However, at a December 7, 2017 hearing, I was infuriated to learn that the same person (Stella Fiotes) who had her fingerprints all over the construction of the Aurora VA hospital, which is a billion dollars over budget and five years behind schedule, was not only still working at the VA, but was promoted at that time, to a senior leadership role that oversees all VA construction and acquisition. With this, I sent a letter to Secretary Shulkin addressing my findings and demanding action, only to have nothing occur. Subsequently, I had an in-person meeting with the VA secretary and deputy secretary, where I once again brought up my concerns. Their response — we would look into it, but a firing was not possible, as the VA may get sued. To which I pointedly responded, “would such lawsuit cost us over a billion dollars?” It was at this moment that I realized my suspicions about Shulkin were confirmed — he was a continuation of the problem.
As I reflected on this, I could only imagine what would have happened had I not led the legislative charge to strip the VA of all its construction management responsibilities. These now lie with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Not only does Shulkin demonstrate a lack of leadership, but a questionable moral compass as well. On Feb. 14, 2018, the VA’s Office of Inspector General released a report that found many indiscretions committed by the secretary while he was on an European trip that cost the taxpayers at least $122,334. Among the findings were that Shulkin had: improperly accepted gifts (Wimbledon tickets) under false pretenses; misused a subordinate’s official time; inadequately documented the trip and related costs; and misled the media. Additionally the report found Shulkin’s staff made false representations to VA ethics officials. This on top of finding that the secretary purposely misled investigators when questioned about his trip, validating my initial apprehensions.
There is no question that Trump needs to fire Shulkin. Until he does, the president will fail to deliver on the promises he made to our veterans — to fundamentally change this organization and reform the VA.
In short, it’s time for President Trump to say … “You’re fired.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman is a Marine Corps combat veteran representing Colorado’s 6th Congressional District and is a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee.