Former Florida congressman a leading contender for VA job
WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., who chaired the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs before retiring from Congress last year, is considered a leading candidate to become President Donald Trump’s next nominee for Veterans Affairs secretary, according to several people familiar with the matter.
Miller, who spent 16 years in Congress and now works in Washington, D.C., as a lobbyist, was scheduled to meet Wednesday with officials in a White House vetting office and possibly Trump, according to the people, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the personnel issue.
A senior administration official, who confirmed Trump’s interest in Miller, said a decision is not expected before next week. Reached by phone on Wednesday, Miller said he had “no comment” when asked whether he’s been asked about joining the administration or if he would want the job leading the second-largest Cabinet department.
Several other candidates are still believed to be under consideration, including Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., who Trump has said would make a great governor of Florida.
After White House physician Ronny Jackson withdrew from consideration last week amid allegations of professional misconduct, Trump said there was great interest in the post from others and that the candidates include “some very political people.”
Trump suggested that a nominee with more political experience would have been better positioned to handle the kind of allegations Jackson faced.
Jackson, a rear admiral in the Navy, dropped out amid unverified allegations of drinking on the job and creating a hostile work environment — which he vigorously denied. Trump has also called the allegations false, saying Jackson was the victim of slander.
Miller is one of two candidates whom House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., publicly suggested to Trump last week. Ryan also floated the possibility of Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., the current chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
Miller has been fiercely critical of the VA’s long wait times for veterans and has been an outspoken critic of its services, often highlighting dysfunctional hospital staff, the silencing of whistleblowers and inspector general reports on topics including dirty hospitals and botched surgeries.
While a member of the committee, he pushed to expand the Choice program, which allows veterans to seek medical care at taxpayer expense from providers outside the VA’s network. Trump also favors expanding the program, which was a point of contention with the last VA secretary, David Shulkin, whom Trump fired in late March.
That action followed an inspector general’s report that said Shulkin took his wife on a business trip at taxpayer expense. There were also tensions with conservatives over the extent to which Shulkin was willing to outsource care.
A top VA official said he hopes that the administration will “take its time in choosing the next candidate,” asking not to be named because he is not authorized to speak about the issue. “For the sake of the vets,” the official said, “we all need to get this right.”
From the start, Jackson was a startling pick, according to lawmakers and veterans groups, who were concerned that he didn’t have the experience to manage a department with 360,000 employees serving 9 million veterans.
One person close to the White House and familiar with the selection process said that Miller has “never clicked” with Trump. Miller was not interviewed for the VA job prior to Trump taking office despite the fact that he and Trump spent a lot of time together during the transition, the person said.