Thur. 10:30 a.m.: Ronny Jackson withdraws from consideration for VA chief
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Veterans Affairs, Ronny Jackson, has withdrawn in the wake of late-surfacing allegations about overprescribing drugs and poor leadership while serving as a top White House doctor, saying the “false allegations” against him have become a distraction.
In a statement the White House issued from Jackson, he said he “did not expect to have to dignify baseless and anonymous attacks on my character and integrity.”
Shortly after Jackson dropped out, President Donald Trump called into the Fox & Friends morning show to praise Jackson as an “incredible man” who “runs a fantastic operation.”
Trump said Jackson had a “beautiful record” and that there was no proof of the allegations and criticizing the top Democrat on a Senate panel who was investigation the allegations. Said Trump, “I think Jon Tester has a big price to pay.” The president declined to say who he may nominate next.
Asked whether Jackson will remain on the job as White House doctor, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, “Admiral Jackson is a doctor in the United States Navy assigned to the White House and is here at work today.”
Trump selected Jackson, a rear admiral in the Navy, to head the VA last month after abruptly firing former Obama administration official David Shulkin following an ethics scandal and mounting rebellion within the agency. But Jackson, a surprise choice who has worked as a White House physician since 2006, faced immediate questions from Republican and Democratic lawmakers as well as veterans groups about whether he had the experience to manage the massive department of 360,000 employees serving 9 million veterans.
Jackson also faced a series of accusations about his workplace conduct. The latest blow to his nomination to lead the government’s second-largest Cabinet agency came Wednesday with a set of accusations compiled by Sen. Jon Tester’s Democratic staff on the committee considering his nomination.
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