Senate set to confirm Wilkie as Veterans secretary
WASHINGTON: After months of tumult, Pentagon official Robert Wilkie was expected to become secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) as the Senate voted on their choice yesterday, taking on the task of fulfilling President Donald Trump’s promises to fire bad VA employees and steer more patients to the private sector.
Mr Wilkie is Mr Trump’s third pick for the job in 18 months. The long-time public official says he will “shake up complacency’’ at VA, which has struggled with long waits in providing treatment to millions of veterans.
He is expected to easily win confirmation after a Senate panel approved his nomination earlier this month. Only Sen Bernie Sanders of Vermont at the time voted “no’’ citing concerns Mr Trump’s administration would “privatise’’ VA.
If confirmed, Mr Wilkie, 55, was expected to be sworn into the office quickly, the White House has told some veterans groups, possibly joining Mr Trump at the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention today in Kansas City. VFW has left a slot open for the “VA secretary’’ to speak before Mr Trump addresses the convention.
Mr Trump selected Mr Wilkie for the post in May after firing his first VA secretary, David Shulkin, amid ethics charges and internal rebellion at the department over the role of private care for veterans. Mr Trump’s initial replacement choice, White House doctor Ronny Jackson, withdrew after allegations of misconduct surfaced.
Mr Wilkie, a former assistant secretary of defence under President George W Bush, has received mostly positive reviews from veterans’ groups for his management experience, but the extent of his willingness to expand private care remains largely unknown.
During his confirmation hearing, the Air Force and Navy veteran insisted he would not privatise the government’s secondlargest agency of 360,000 employees and would make sure VA health care is “fully funded’’. When pressed by Sen Jon Tester, the top Democrat on the panel, if he would be willing to disagree with Mr Trump, Mr Wilkie responded “yes’’.
“I have been privileged to work for some of the most high-powered people,’’ said Mr Wilkie, currently a Pentagon undersecretary for Defence Secretary Jim Mattis.