Trump V.A. Nominee Faces Claims of Overprescription, hostile work enviroment. - Polidicks

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/24/us/politics/ronny-jackson-veterans-affairs.html Department oversaw a hostile work environment as the White House physician and allowed the over prescribing of drugs, according to congressional officials briefed on the committee’s work.They have also received claims that Dr. Ronny L. Jackson drank too much on the job. Officials familiar with the allegations against Dr. Jackson declined to offer precise details but said that they suggest a pattern of behavior, not just one or two isolated incidents. Last month, Mr. Trump fired his first Veterans Affairs secretary, David J. Shulkin, an experienced hospital administrator and veteran of the V.A. medical system, and then chose Dr. Jackson largely out of personal affinity. The White House did little or no vetting of his background before announcing his nomination on Twitter.The Senate only received paperwork from the Trump administration formalizing Dr. Jackson’s nomination last week.

Is it too cliche to go "I only hire the best people, only the best, they're super good" still?

This is only part a trump scandal. Trump was dumb to nominate this guy with zero-vetting but he has been working in his current role since George W. so he's been hiding this for a long time.

Gee, some people just can't keep their on the job drinking professional.

update: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house-stands-by-embattled-nominee-to-lead-veterans-affairs/2018/04/24/3013860e-47a6-11e8-9072-f6d4bc32f223_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.ab8058a9892d only the best people ect.

Jackson has been a WH physician for ages how are these allegations coming out just now as Trump tries to move him to the VA?

Because the vetting process requires due diligence and scrutiny and apparently it's only now digging up all of these things. It seems odd that these problems would remain covered up for a decade plus, but I'm sure the details will come out soon enough. Also, apparently Trump announced his appointment to the VA, which is a much bigger organizational challenge than running the White House medical office and attending to the President, with literally zero vetting. Which, of course, isn't surprising considering Trump's pattern of firing people who don't get along with him and replacing them with people he likes in his close orbit. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/04/24/the-white-houses-ronny-jackson-problems-were-entirely-avoidable/ This is an opinion piece but it details how little Jackson was actually investigated for being suitable for the job before Trump asked for a confirmation hearing.

When will this shit end?

Hey, so it turns out there's even more. CNN reports that there are documented complaints that Jackson violated the medical privacy of Karen Pence, Mike Pence's wife last year. https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/30/politics/karen-pence-doctor-privacy-ronny-jackson/index.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2018/05/01/trump-owes-jon-tester-one-heck-of-an-apology-and-his-thanks/ This is an opinion piece, but it points out the kind of amazing state Trump is now in: He has attacked senator Jon Tester for revealing allegations of misconduct against Jackson (but not including the allegations of Karen Pence's medical info being shared inappropriately), when in fact Tester was doing him a favour by actually performing oversight on Trump's nominee as the Senate is supposed to, since the White House didn't have time to vet Jackson themselves after Trump decided on a whim to promote him because he likes him. Considering how many of Trump's nominees have resigned or been forced out by scandal, or withdrew their nominations when the Senate dug up evidence/held testimony that demonstrated they were too incompetent or ethically too conflicted for the job, having Jackson's nomination scared out of the room quickly is ultimately better for Trump. The VA is the second largest federal agency and one of the most important in the hearts of Republican voters, and it's in very sad shape and needs someone without ethical baggage to lead it and fix it up with effective and decisive action. Whether Jackson has the skills to lead the VA to better waters is irrelevant, because he wouldn't be able to effectively achieve his mandate with clouds of scandal and bad history following him. Ideally, but unlikely, Trump will pick a less-conflicted nominee next time, one that is vetted a bit harder before being announced.