Trump Passes on Scott Brown for VA Secretary

Donald Trump has opted against former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown for the Department of Veterans Affairs, instead picking the VA's current undersecretary as one of the President-elect's final cabinet picks before his swearing-in later this month.

In a press conference Wednesday, his first since last July, Trump announced he is tapping David Shulkin for the role.

Shulkin's full title at the VA is Under Secretary for Health, nominated by President Obama to oversee the troubled Veterans Health Administration in 2015. Shulkin, a physician, previously led Morristown Medical Center, Atlantic Health, Goryeb Children’s Hospital and New York City's Beth Israel Medical Center, among numerous other roles. He took the post following Robert Petzel's early resignation in the wake of a VA scandal that included keeping double books to disguise long, and even fatal, wait times at VA hospitals around the country.

Brown responded to the news on Twitter shortly after Trump's press conference Wednesday:

Brown met with Trump last November regarding the post of VA Secretary.

He told reporters at the time, “We obviously spoke about my passion and his passion, which [is] veterans and veterans issues. You know, obviously I think the toughest job in the Cabinet is to lead the VA, because while it has so many angels working there, it has so many great problems as well. He is going to obviously take my application, interest under consideration.”

Brown later told The Boston Globe that Trump "said he’s making his highest recommendation to his committee that they consider me.”

A Republican ousted from his Senate seat by Democrat Elizabeth Warren in 2012, Brown has stayed active on the airwaves. He is a frequent TV and radio news guest, and was a reliably pro-Trump voice during the 2016 campaign.

The former state Senator and local selectman served 35 years in the Army National Guard, rising to the rank of colonel. He is a graduate of Wakefield High School, Tufts, and Boston College Law School. He was also selectman and a state Senator from Wrentham.

If his nomination is confirmed, Shulkin will be the first VA leader who is not a veteran, The Washington Post reports. According to the paper, he received unanimous support during his 2015 confirmation hearing, and is expected to "breeze through" the process this second time around.

Read more:

• Elizabeth Warren on Scott Brown for VA Secretary: 'You Bet I'd Support Him'
• Scott Brown Meets with Donald Trump About Cabinet Post

Image via public domain

Reporting contributed by Dan Libon, Patch staff