The Senate confirms Robert Wilkie for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs

by Hope Yen | WASHINGTON – The Senate confirmed Monday that Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie was responsible for following up on President Donald Trump's election promises to fire bad employees and lead more patients.

Wilkie got approval at a bipartite vote of 86-9, gaining the support of many Democrats after insisting in his confirmation hearing that he will not privatize the second plus great department of the government. It was a moment of respite after the sharp political divisions that overwhelmed the other Trump candidates in the last few months leading up to the mid-term congressional elections.

Wilkie is Trump's third choice for the job in 18 months. The long-time official says he's going to "shake off complacency" at VA, which has struggled with long waits in providing medical treatments to millions of veterans.

Trump chose Wilkie for the job in May after firing his first VA secretary, David Shulkin, amid accusations of ethics and internal rebellion at the department on the role of private care for veterans. Trump 's initial choice, White House doctor Ronny Jackson, is withdrawn after allegations of misconduct in the workplace have emerged.

Wilkie, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for President George W. Bush, received positive reviews from veterans. but the extent of its willingness to extend private care as an alternative to government-run health care remains largely unknown.

Trump last year pledged to triple the number of veterans "see the doctor of their choice". During his hearing on several occasions, the veteran of the Air Force and Navy stated that he opposed the privatization of 360,000 employees and that he would ensure that the health care in VA is "fully funded". When he is pressed by Senator Jon Tester, the best Democrat on the panel, if he would be willing to disagree with Trump, Wilkie responded "yes."

"I've been p," said Wilkie, currently Pentagon Under Secretary for Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, "They pay me for their opinions, and I give them to them."

Wilkie's main task in the coming months will be to implement a newly signed law to facilitate access to private care providers.This law gives the VA secretary wide authority to decide when veterans can bypbad the VA, depending on whether they receive "quality" care, but the program could face escalating costs.

Some Democrats warned that the VA could not handle a rising price, putting it in danger of running out of budget next year.The major groups of veterans want full funding for VA medical centers, which they consider to be best suited to the specific needs of veterans, such as treatment Post-Traumatic Stress

As VA Secretary, Wilkie will have more power under a new liability law to dismiss VA employees. Legislators on both sides have recently raised questions about the implementation of the law, including how whistleblower complaints are handled and whether the law is used disproportionately against employees at the grbadroots level rather than by managers. higher. Said Dan Caldwell, executive director of the Conservative Concerned Veterans for America. "There has been a considerable number of bills pbaded over the past year and a half, and it will take a lot of work to get them properly implemented."

Johnny Isakson, Republican Senator, Senate Speaker Wilkie was appointed interim secretary of the VA after Shulkin was dismissed in March, before returning to his role as undersecretary of the Pentagon.

He will replace Peter O'Rourke, current interim secretary of VA, who clashed with VA's Inspector General after refusing to release documents relating to VA's whistleblower complaints and tossing the watchdog independent as an underling who must "act accordingly". VA agreed last week to provide documents to the IG

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