The nation’s press hasn’t hesitated in giving ex-officials from the Trump administration time to air out various grievances; former Department of Veteran Affairs Secretary David Shulkin’s Thursday column is no different.
Hours after President Donald Trump announced the firing of Shulkin on Twitter Wednesday, The New York Times published a column from the former VA secretary touting his accomplishments at the agency, while defending himself from the “politically-based attacks on me and my family’s character.”
Shulkin’s firing comes after he was increasingly isolated after an inspector general report found “serious derelictions” by him and other senior VA officials when he was on a trip to Europe in 2017. Shulkin and others allegedly spent a large portion of time traveling during the trip.
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There are no specific mentions of the allegations in Shulkin’s column. Instead, he spends the bulk of the piece attacking proposed plans to privatize part of the VA’s department, and goes as far as blaming political differences as the real reason for his ousting.
“The advocates within the administration for privatizing VA health services, however, reject this approach. They saw me as an obstacle to privatization who had to be removed. That is because I am convinced that privatization is a political issue aimed at rewarding select people and companies with profits, even if it undermines care for veterans,” wrote Shulkin.
Shulkin’s column mirrors those of other former Trump administration officials who have been fired. Rather than quietly going into retirement or finding new work, several have chosen to seek the limelight.
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s first public remarks, after he was similarly fired because of a damning internal report, were in the pages of The Washington Post. In the column published earlier this month, McCabe denied all allegations that he acted improperly and implored his old colleagues to “set the headlines aside and give in to what draws you to this work. The country needs you.”
Similarly, former FBI Director James Comey has used Twitter and his upcoming book to give an insider’s look into the White House.
Such behavior contrasts with the expectation held by some that these individuals serve at the pleasure of the president and the country. Their terminations, which have all been endorsed by independent investigators or colleagues, have ended in quests for self-promotion.
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