The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump’s doctor Ronny Jackson withdrew his nomination to head the Department of Veterans Affairs on Thursday following allegations he improperly handed out drugs and was drunk at work.
The withdrawal — just the latest staffing upset in an administration rocked by a series of firings and resignations — came as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency was grilled by Congress over mounting ethical scandals.
“I am regretfully withdrawing my nomination to be Secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs,” Jackson said in a statement.
Jackson insisted that the allegations against him were false, but said he was withdrawing anyway due to the distraction they were causing.
“Unfortunately, because of how Washington works, these false allegations have become a distraction for this president and the important issue we must be addressing — how we give the best care to our nation’s heroes,” Jackson said.
His withdrawal came just a day after he indicated that he would fight on, telling reporters his surprise nomination was “still moving ahead as planned.”
Trump told Fox News he had seen the writing on the wall, but defended Jackson, saying he would have done a “great job.”
“He’s a great man, and he got treated very, very unfairly,” Trump later said.
The president’s daughter Ivanka also came to Jackson’s defense and indicated that he would stay on in his current job, writing on Twitter: “We… look forward to continuing to see his warm smile each day at the White House!”
– EPA chief under fire –
Jackson’s withdrawal was not the only troubling news for Trump’s administration on Thursday: lawmakers grilled the embattled head of the EPA, Scott Pruitt — one of several cabinet members to be dogged by allegations of improper expenditures.
Pruitt has notably been under fire for lavish spending on first-class travel with a large security detail, for a discount he received on a condominium linked to a lobbying firm, and for allegedly sharply boosting salaries of close aides at the agency.
House Democrat Frank Pallone told Pruitt that in any other administration, “you would be long gone by now,” saying he had brought “secrecy, conflicts of interest, and scandal to the EPA.”
Pruitt hit back, saying he had “nothing to hide” and that the criticism of him and the EPA was aimed at derailing Trump’s agenda.
“I’m simply not going to let that happen,” he said.
An ethics issue helped bring down David Shulkin, the previous head of the 380,000-plus employee Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), who was sacked in late March after he was accused of spending $122,000 on a nine-day trip to Europe with his wife, which included sightseeing at castles and taking in professional tennis matches.
The agency is notoriously dysfunctional, and a lack of funding has weakened the hospital network specifically dedicated to the health of veterans — a key constituency for Trump.
