Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on March 8. Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin is the latest to depart President Donald Trump’s turbulent White House. Undersecretary of Defense Robert Wilkie will serve as acting director of the department until a new secretary is confirmed. Shulkin, a physician and former hospital executive, previously served in the Obama administration as the undersecretary of veterans affairs, and he experienced initial success running the agency with the support of veterans groups and bipartisan committees. Trump’s displeasure with Shulkin may have had more to do with the fact that the secretary had found himself increasingly at odds with conservative administration officials, who have long pushed for increased privatization of veterans’ health care options.

Source: Huffington Post March 28, 2018 21:42 UTC