NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE/VA: “President Trump announced on Friday [5-18-18] that he intended to nominate Robert Wilkie, the acting secretary of veterans affairs, to take over the sprawling agency, a move that the president said would surprise Mr. Wilkie because he was learning about it only as it was being revealed. The president made the announcement ahead of a public event about prison reform as he praised members of his cabinet who have worked on the issue… Mr. Trump’s previous choice to run the Department of Veterans Affairs, Ronny L. Jackson, withdrew his name from consideration last month after disparaging reports about him circulated among lawmakers before his scheduled confirmation hearing. Mr. Jackson had been serving as Mr. Trump’s personal doctor. The president fired his first veterans affairs secretary, David J. Shulkin, in March. At the time Mr. Wilkie was chosen as acting secretary, he was serving as the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness. He is a reserve officer in the Air Force Reserve and served during the George W. Bush administration at the Defense Department.”
-Eileen Sullivan and Dave Philipps, “Trump Says He Will Nominate Acting Secretary to Lead V.A.,” The New York Times online, May 18, 2018