Palace intrigue in the White House regarding the leadership of the Department of Veterans Affairs continued on Wednesday with the Trump administration’s announcement that Peter O’Rourke has been named acting VA secretary.
O’Rourke, who previously served as the VA’s chief of staff, succeeds former Acting Secretary Robert Wilkie, whom the president has selected for nomination as VA secretary.
In the meantime, the agency announced that Wilkie has returned to his prior position at the Department of Defense, where he serves as under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness. President Trump named Wilkie the agency’s acting secretary in late March, following the ouster of then-VA Secretary David Shulkin, MD.
