Trump fires Veterans Affairs Secretary Shulkin

Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin. Photo / AP

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with White House physician Dr Ronny Jackson. Photo / AP

US President Donald Trump has fired Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin in the wake of a bruising ethics scandal and a mounting rebellion within the agency.

Shulkin is the second Cabinet secretary to depart over controversies involving expensive travel, following former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price's resignation last September.

Trump is nominating Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson to succeed Shulkin, a former Obama administration official and the first non-veteran ever to head the VA.

Jackson has served since 2013 as the Physician to the President, and gained a national profile earlier this year for holding a sweeping press conference on the president's health.

The VA is the US government's second largest department, responsible for 9 million military veterans in more than 1700 government-run health facilities.

Shulkin had continued to insist he had the full confidence of the White House amid continuing investigations over his travel and leadership of the department.

It was the latest in a series of departures for top administration officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was fired by Trump earlier this month.

A well-oiled machine. [via @goldengateblond] pic.twitter.com/yPZBNMF6H8

— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) March 28, 2018

Dr. Jackson is a good and honorable person, fine doctor and career military but you do get the sense that this has as much to do with his boffo press conference on the president’s physical as anything else. https://t.co/uEbm7dPz1d

— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) March 28, 2018

Dr. Ronny Jackson has become very close to the president. The two frequently travel together, and Jackson says he has “spent almost every day in the President’s presence.” In announcing Trump’s medical results in January, Jackson described his relationship with the president... pic.twitter.com/1qyglt3AAX

— Jenna Johnson (@wpjenna) March 28, 2018

He loves Jackson personally. And he likes that he was a doctor to two Dem presidents. Hegseth didn't want to go through the confirmation process. https://t.co/WWH53EYXOi

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 28, 2018

What happens when Trump runs out of people he knows to shove into cabinet positions?

— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) March 28, 2018

- AP