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Department of Veterans Affairs

See also Secretary of Veterans Affairs Nominee David Shulkin.

Timeline

2016.12.22Veterans groups expresses alarm at Trump's plans to privatize veterans' health care. latimes.com
2016.12.28Trump considers plan to let veterans opt out of V.A. medical care, offers few details. nytimes.com
2017.01.11Trump nominates David Shulkin, a physician serving in the Obama administration as VA undersecretary, to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. washingtonpost.com (See also David Shulkin)
2018.02.14Veterans Affairs Secretary David J. Shulkin’s chief of staff doctored an email and made false statements to create a pretext for taxpayers to cover expenses for the secretary’s wife on a 10-day trip to Europe last summer, the agency’s inspector general has found. washingtonpost.com (See also False Statements, Trump Cabinet, David Shulkin)
Shulkin is one of five current and former Trump administration Cabinet members under investigation by agency inspectors general over their travel expenses.
2018.03.28After weeks of uncertainty atop the Department of Veterans Affairs, Donald Trump said he plans to replace its secretary, David J. Shulkin, with Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, the White House physician and a rear admiral in the Navy. nytimes.com (See also Resignations and Dismissals, David Shulkin)
2018.04.30The intercession of a well-connected Florida doctor, as a member of Mar-a-Lago has infuriated those overseeing the $16B contract Department of Veterans Affairs project. politico.com (See also Corruption, Conflicts of Interest, David Shulkin)
2018.08.07Peter O'Rourke is one-third of an informal council that is exerting sweeping influence on the VA from Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, none of whom have ever served in the U.S. military or government. propublica.org (See also Conflicts of Interest, Unprecedented Actions)
2018.10.09Veterans Affairs officials are declining to give members of Congress documents related to accusations that outside businessmen are unduly influencing department policy. militarytimes.com (See also Corruption)
At issue are concerns raised by a ProPublica report this summer that identified three businessmen, none of whom hold official government permissions — Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter, primary care specialist Dr. Bruce Moskowitz, and attorney Marc Sherman — as key architects of a host of veterans policy decisions by Trump’s administration.
2018.11.11The Department of Veterans Affairs is suffering from a series of information technology glitches that has caused GI Bill benefit payments covering education and housing to be delayed or never be delivered. nbcnews.com (See also Administration Errors)
2018.11.28The Department of Veterans Affairs told congressional staffers that it would not reimburse those veterans who were paid less than they were owed, after weeks of delayed or incorrect GI Bill benefit payments, which have been blamed on computer issues. nbcnews.com (See also Administration Errors)
The news conflicts with a promise VA officials made to a House committee earlier this month that it would reimburse those veterans who received less than the full amount they were due.