President Donald Trump is planning to oust embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin amid an extraordinary rebellion at the agency and damaging government investigations into his alleged spending abuses, three administration officials told The Associated Press.
Two officials said an announcement on Shulkin could happen this week, subject to Trump's final decision as the White House hones in on possible replacements to head the Department of Veterans Affairs. One of the officials rated Shulkin's chances of being pushed out in the next day or two at "50-50."
"He did say that he's expecting to make one or two major changes," said Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, a Trump confidant who spoke with the president over the weekend, on ABC's "This Week."
During the presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly pledged to fix the VA by expanding access to private doctors and firing bad employees, criticizing the department as "the most corrupt." Last year, Trump promised to triple the number of veterans "seeing the doctor of their choice."