President Trump will meet this week with former House Veterans Affairs’ Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, a top contender to lead the Veterans Affairs agency, a senior White House official told the Washington Examiner Tuesday.
The former Republican congressman from Florida has been discussed as a potential successor to ousted VA Secretary David Shulkin given his experience on the House panel and the likelihood that he would avoid major controversy during the Senate confirmation process.
Miller served eight terms in Congress before retiring in 2017, three years after he took the lead on passing a $16 million VA reform bill out of the lower chamber. The bill was later signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2014.
He also served as an informal adviser to then-candidate Trump on veterans issues during the 2016 election, and was heavily involved in drafting a white paper on VA reforms that the Trump campaign issued months before the election.
A senior White House official said Trump and Miller would meet later this week, presumably after the president returns from his trip to Dallas for the National Rifle Association’s annual convention. The same official said another candidate whose name has appeared in the media — former Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove — does not currently have a meeting scheduled with Trump.
“He is not among those who I expect to meet with the president, but that does not mean he is not under consideration,” the official said.
