During an appearance on CNN’s New Day program early Monday morning, former Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin admitted that President Trump’s tweets about his replacement were how he found out he was being fired. In other words, yes, the ex-cabinet official was fired from his post via social media. “Well, I think that’s the alternative to resignation,” he said when Alisyn Camerota asked whether he resigned or was fired. “General Kelly gave me a heads up that the President would most likely be tweeting out a message in the very near future, and I appreciated having that heads-up from General Kelly.”
“So the tweet fired you?” Camerota pressed further, which brought a smile to Shulkin’s face before he admitted this was the case. “Yes,” he said. Before this moment, however, the pair’s discussion of what precisely happened before, during, and immediately after the VA secretary’s ousting highlighted another problematic facet of Shulkin’s dismissal by Trump. The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 requires that, if and when an appointed official of the Executive Branch dies, resigns, or is removed from office, their deputy must be put in place on an interim basis until a replacement can be found, vetted, appointed, and confirmed.
With Trump’s immediate appointment of of the White House physician, Rear Admiral Ronny L. Jackson, to the post, some critics feel the law is not being followed appropriately. “The Vacancy Act is a very complex piece of legislation,” said Shulkin. “I think that that’s something that the administration will need to figure out, and I’m sure that they’ll do the right thing.” Yet in a previous op-ed for the New York Times, the ex-secretary revealed that efforts to privatize the VA healthcare system were largely responsible for his dwindling favor in the Trump administration. So whether the “right thing” will happen remains to be seen.
(Via CNN)