In a tweet late Wednesday, President Donald Trump fired Shulkin, who faced a mounting internal rebellion at VA and a bruising ethics scandal. “They saw me as an obstacle to privatization who had to be removed,” he said. “This administration has taken several unprecedented steps to transform and modernize the VA, and there are no discussions about privatizing it,” said White House spokesman Raj Shah. Major veterans groups and Democrats stand opposed to an aggressive expansion, seeing the effort as a potential threat to the viability of VA medical centres. A White House official said Shulkin was informed of his dismissal by chief of staff John Kelly Wednesday afternoon before the president announced the move on Twitter.

Source: National Post March 29, 2018 14:24 UTC