In a surprise announcement that caught the candidate off-guard, President Donald Trump said today he'll nominate acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie to permanently lead the beleaguered department.
Trump spilled the news about Wilkie at a White House event on prison reform as he introduced Cabinet members in attendance. When Trump got to Wilkie, he said, "I'll be informing him in a little while he doesn't know this yet that we're going to be putting his name up for nomination to be secretary."
"We're optimistic that we'll be able to work with him and his staff," Augustine said. "He's doing what he needs to do to get up to speed." Paul Rieckhoff, founder and executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said veterans "need a committed, focused leader who will always put veterans above politics." He said Wilkie "will have to prove to millions of veterans nationwide that he is up to this mammoth, sacred leadership task."
Dan Caldwell, executive director of the conservative Concerned Veterans for America, called Wilkie an "outstanding choice." "He is somebody who has shown that he can manage the department in a time of immense change," Caldwell said. "He unequivocally supports the president's agenda for reforming the VA and we think that he will be on the same page as the White House."
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