WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - In a surprise move, President Donald Trump has revealed he intends to nominate acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie to permanently head the agency.
Trump announced his intention to nominate Wilkie on Friday during an unrelated White House event on prison reform.
'He has done an incredible job at the VA,' Trump said of Wilkie. 'I'll be informing him in a little while, he doesn't know this yet, we're going to be putting his name up for nomination to be secretary of the Veterans Administration.'
Wilkie, currently Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, was named acting VA Secretary after Trump fired David Shulkin in late March.
Trump previously nominated Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson, M.D., to replace Shulkin, but the White House physician withdrew amid allegations of misconduct.
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