Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Fall In Line Or Get Out: Shulkin Taking Steps To Rout Rebellious Political Foes In VA Department
Campaigning to keep his job, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin said Tuesday he had no intention of quitting despite blistering findings of travel abuses connected to his 11-day trip to Europe. He issued an extraordinary warning to VA staff rebelling against him: Get back in line or get out. Speaking after a Tuesday meeting at the White House, Shulkin told The Associated Press that White House chief of staff John Kelly affirmed he still had the trust of President Donald Trump. (Yen, 2/20)
Shulkin鈥檚 new chief of staff, Peter O鈥橰ourke, is meeting with each staffer suspected of defying Shulkin 鈥渋ndividually and as a group to determine, now that there is a clear direction where we are going, where people are going to stand," he said. "Those who crossed the line in the past are going to have to be accountable for those decisions." Shulkin and the White House on Friday named O鈥橰ourke, who previously led an accountability office at VA, to replace Vivieca Wright Simpson after she retired last week. An IG report accused her of falsifying an email to get the VA to pay for Shulkin鈥檚 wife to accompany him on a trip to England and Denmark over the summer. (Allen, 2/20)