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You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition - December 21, 2016
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This is the December 21, 2016, edition of a daily email sent from November 2016 to September 2017 that covered Donald Trump's presidential transition team, potential cabinet appointees, and the different policy positions of those individuals who may have had an effect on the new administration. Previous editions of "You're Hired" can be found here.
As of December 21, 2016, Trump had officially announced 13 of 15 Cabinet nominations. See his nominees here.
Potential nominees
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
The two high-level nominations Trump has yet to make are the secretaries for the departments of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs. Yesterday, we took a look at where things stand with the search for an agriculture secretary. Today, we will focus on the Veterans Affairs.
What does the Department of Veterans Affairs do? The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) oversees the distribution of benefits to those who have served in the U.S. Military and their families. These benefits include medical programs and facilities, counseling centers, disability compensation, housing loans, insurance benefits, job training, and professional development. The department has come under increased scrutiny after reports surfaced in 2014 that some veterans were unable to make appointments within 14 days (a departmental goal) and that some VA employees had manipulated paperwork to make wait times seem shorter.
Robert McDonald, a former CEO of Procter and Gamble, is the current secretary of veterans affairs. He was appointed in 2014 as part of an effort to reform the department after the reports of mismanagement.
- In October 2015, Trump released his campaign plan to reform the VA. Here are some highlights:
- He called for an expanded ability “to discipline or terminate any employee who has jeopardized the health, safety or well-being of a veteran” and for “a private White House hotline … devoted to answering veteran's complaints of wrongdoing at the VA.”
- He also proposed allowing veterans “the choice to seek care at the VA or at a private service provider of their own choice.” Currently, through the Veterans Choice Program, those enrolled in VA health plans can receive non-VA care only if they have to wait more than 30 days for an appointment or if they live more than 40 miles from a VA facility.
- Trump has stated publicly that he is not in support of privatizing the VA. At a "commander-in-chief" forum on NBC News on September 7, 2016, Trump said, “I never said take the V.A. — take the Veterans Administration private. I wouldn’t do that. Too much respect for our people. I would never do that.”
- On the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which provides education benefits for those who have served in the military since September 11, 2001, Trump’s stance is less known. In a May interview on CNN, when asked if he supported the GI Bill in its current form, Trump said, “I don’t want to hurt our vets. We treat illegal immigrants better than our vets. I’m going to help the vets. I’m going to only help them.” When asked if that answer meant he supported the bill, Trump replied, “No. I want to bring jobs back to our country and make the country grow again.”
- Speaking in Virginia Beach on July 11, 2016, Trump addressed non-health related benefits for veterans, saying, “Every year, large corporations bring in many thousands of low-wage workers from overseas, and across the border, to fill jobs that could easily be filled by our Veterans. Veterans should come first in the country they fought to protect.”
Who are the known potential nominees to lead the VA?
Below we profile four of the known potential nominees for the VA head. See here for a complete list of names that have been floated.
- Jeff Miller is a retiring member of the U.S. House representing Florida’s 1st Congressional District. He was first elected in a special election in 2001 and has chaired the House Veterans Affairs Committee since 2011. Miller has been a sharp critic of the department for what he sees as wasteful spending and an unwillingness to change. In November 2016, Miller said, “You can’t have a World Series-winning team if you are not willing to get rid of those who can’t or won’t play their positions.” Miller, who helped to craft the initial VA package that included the Veterans Choice program, is an advocate for increasing veteran access to private health care providers.
- Pete Hegseth is a major in the U.S. Army Individual Ready Reserve. He served with the National Guard in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as well as in Iraq. Hegseth has been a vocal advocate for veterans and veteran's issues. From 2007 to 2010, he served as the executive director of Vets for Freedom, nonprofit organization that seeks to educate Americans "about the importance of achieving success in Iraq and Afghanistan by applying first-hand knowledge to issues of American strategy and tactics on these battlefields."
- Luis Quinonez is president of MAQ Diversified, a company that provides health services to the public and to veterans. He was interviewed for the job heading the VA on Monday. Quinonez served as a pilot during the Vietnam War and later worked as a liaison between the U.S. Senate and the Department of the Navy.
- Scott Brown is a former U.S. Senator from Massachusetts who served on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee during his two years there. Brown is an advocate of reform at the VA, and his recent comments have focused on the need to scale back the department and rid it of what he sees as mismanagement. On December 16, he said, “Veterans are dying, there's mismanagement. There's a lot of great work being done in the VA but a lot of people are just checking a box. You need to get someone in there with the presidential authority to fire people.” Brown was an early supporter of Trump; Brown endorsed him in February 2016.
- Toby Cosgrove has been the CEO of Cleveland Clinic, a hospital network, since 2004 and has overseen the organization’s expansion during his time there. A veteran of the Vietnam War, Cosgrove was also in consideration to be secretary of VA in 2014. The Obama administration was reportedly interested in him based on his experience as a CEO in the healthcare industry. Marketplace referred to him as “one of the few hospital executives in the country who has improved patient care and controlled healthcare costs.”
Programming note: With the holidays coming up we will be taking a break from our normal schedule. Expect updates throughout this week and an update next Wednesday. Tweet at us, @Ballotpedia, if you're looking for news between now and then.
See also
- You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition
- Donald Trump presidential transition team
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