Is David Shulkin Trump’s Most Popular Cabinet Member?

By Daniel J. Solomon August 28, 2017

David Shulkin is winning plaudits from across the aisle for his work remaking the Veterans Affairs administration and revamping healthcare for former soldiers.

“What motivates me and what motivates Dr. Shulkin is the same, to provide the best care to veterans,” Tennessee Republican representative Phil Roe told Politico. “I don’t know whether he’s a Republican or Democrat, and I could care less.”

Shulkin, who was appointed as VA secretary, after having served as undersecretary under President Obama, has been mum about his partisan affiliations. But he has been aggressive in remaking the agency since his taking office in February.

That agenda has included publishing wait-times at vets’ clinics, pushing for legislation to fire staff he considers substandard and implementing telemedicine and remote diagnosis systems to help vets in far-off areas access care.

Shulkin is different from most who have held his Cabinet position – the Jewish bureaucrat has a work history as a doctor, not a politician.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

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