A top Obama pick to be undersecretary for Health who is now Veterans Affairs Secretary, David J. Shulkin, made what is probably then greatest understatement about President Trump to be uttered in Washington this year. When he was asked how things have changed under Trump, surprisingly he said: “it is all for the good.”
Then Secretary Shulkin went on to say; “I have found that mandate from him, to get this organization fixed and the support and freedom to go out and challenge old assumptions, as exactly what the VA needs right now. I think the organization feels more empowered to fix problems than they have in the past, and my hope is that we will be able to set the path so that the organization is earning back that trust that it needs.”
Shulkin has turned out to be a pleasant surprise to many. He has won kudos for his management style saying the president is using a businessman’s sense to fix government.
The secretary stated during a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor,“The president very much looks at this organization like running a business. And he understands that you need to allow the manager of the business to have the freedom to go out and to challenge assumptions and to make decisions.”
When he was asked, “and that’s a good thing?” Shulkin responded, “Slow, incremental change isn’t what this organization needs,” he said. “He did not come in to make incremental change; he came in to set a fundamental different course in direction when it comes to providing services to veterans,”
Shulkin added “Acting quicker and more decisively is part of that management style.” “Completely different from that of President Obama.”
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