WASHINGTON — President Trump ousted Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin on Wednesday after turmoil in the agency’s senior ranks generated weeks of unflattering headlines, ushering in a potentially dramatic shift to veterans policy.
The president announced that he would nominate Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, his personal physician, to replace Shulkin, a physician and former hospital executive who was the sole Obama-era holdover in Trump’s Cabinet. Robert Wilke, who serves as an undersecretary at the Defense Department, will serve as acting secretary.
Shulkin’s ouster comes amid a broader shake-up that began with Trump’s firing of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on March 13. The president also has decided to replace his national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, with former U.N. ambassador John Bolton.
Shulkin’s firing had been expected for weeks as the president, who once considered him a favorite grew disenchanted with him after a travel scandal and months of infighting within the senior ranks at the Department of Veterans Affairs spilled into public view.
Shulkin, 58, went public with claims that Trump appointees on his staff were conspiring to have him removed....