Fired VA Chief Shulkin: 'They Saw Me as an Obstacle to Privatization'

Stars and Stripes, By Nikki Wentling

WASHINGTON -- David Shulkin spoke out Thursday morning, hours after being fired as secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and blamed his ouster on White House appointees who seek to dismantle the agency.

In a searing New York Times opinion piece, Shulkin wrote the agency, which is responsible for providing medical care to 9 million veterans, became enveloped in recent months in a "brutal power struggle."

"The advocates within the [Trump] administration for privatizing VA health services ... saw me as an obstacle to privatization who had to be removed," Shulkin wrote.