The Senate voted unanimously Monday evening to confirm David Shulkin as the next secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, capping what had been one of the smoothest efforts to fill positions in President Trump’s Cabinet to date.
Shulkin, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, was confirmed 100-0, following a unanimous vote in the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee to advance his nomination last week.
As the VA’s former undersecretary for health, Shulkin oversaw the agency’s sprawling network of more than 1,700 hospitals and clinics.
But Shulkin will now oversee every aspect of the federal government’s second-largest organization, taking over for a VA secretary who faced criticism from Republicans over the slow pace of progress under his purview.
In 2014, the VA suffered the largest scandal in its history when whistleblowers stepped forward to reveal a nationwide effort to cover up delays in healthcare by creating fake patient waiting lists at 110 VA facilities. Few employees were ever fired for their involvement in the wait time scheme, and many veterans still face delays when seeking care from VA doctors.
Trump campaigned vigorously on a promise to overhaul the embattled agency, shorten wait times, and rid the VA’s ranks of employees who fail to live up to basic conduct standards. The president’s decision to choose Shulkin for that task initially sparked skepticism among some observers who questioned how a VA insider could be expected to change the system.
However, Shulkin has since professed support for the ideas contained in the 10-point reform plan Trump put forward during the campaign. At the same time, the new VA secretary heartened Democrats during his confirmation hearing by rejecting the suggestion that the administration could privatize the agency.
Shulkin will still face a tough uphill battle when it comes to implementing Trump’s vision for the VA. Federal employees’ unions, entrenched bureaucrats and congressional Democrats will likely oppose reforms that would give Shulkin and senior agency leaders more authority to remove misbehaving employees.
During the Obama administration, congressional Republicans encountered difficulties in trying to pass such legislation through both houses of Congress.
Shulkin has also been tasked with realizing Trump’s goal of allowing all veterans to choose private care if they want to bypass the VA system. The change would require a dramatic expansion of an existing program that extends that choice to veterans only if they live too far from a VA hospital or are unable to secure an appointment in a timely fashion.
Many of Trump’s other Cabinet picks faced stiff opposition from Senate Democrats, who deployed delay tactics ranging from all-night floor debates to boycotts of committee votes.
The political blockades may have dragged out the confirmation process for Trump’s Cabinet, but most — if not all — of his nominees are expected to attract the votes necessary to get confirmed. Scott Pruitt, nominee to head the EPA, Rick Perry, secretary of energy nominee, and Ben Carson, secretary of housing and urban development nominee, are all among those still awaiting confirmation votes.
