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Montana politics, elections and legislative news

Tester Urges VA Nominee To Resist Political Pressure

Montana Sen. Jon Tester
Senator Jon Tester

Unlike in April, there were few fireworks Wednesday over President Trump's nominee for Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

In April, Democratic Senator Jon Tester endured a tweet-storm from Trump after Tester released a list of anonymous accusations that Trump's previous nominee was unfit for the job. That nominee, Admiral Ronny Jackson, subsequently withdrew his nomination. The President then tweeted that Tester should resign from the Senate, and said he'd come to Montana to campaign against his re-election this year.

At the confirmation hearing Wednesday for Robert Wilkie, Tester said, "I appreciate your willingness to step forward now, during what I believe are unprecedented times at the VA."

Tester is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, which held the hearing. He was complimentary of Wilkie's previous military and government service, but criticized how the Trump administration is running the Department of Veterans Affairs.

"We have seen VA political appointees work actively and publicly to undermine a Secretary and Deputy Secretary who were unanimously confirmed by the Senate," said Tester. "We are seeing non-partisan senior leaders and subject-matter experts leave the VA in unprecedented numbers, many are concerned that sound policies and ideas are being increasingly marginalized at the expense of politics. We are seeing political interest groups given a seat at the table instead of veterans service organizations." 

Trump fired his first VA secretary, Dr. David Shulkin, in March. Shulkin says it was because he opposed Trump's efforts to privatize the VA health system.

Tester told Wilkie he will be faced with a lot of hard decisions.

"The question is how that decision will ultimately be impacted by the influence of others, whether we’re talking about political appointees at the VA or over in the White House. Sooner or later, you’ll come to a crossroads with these folks. That is what happened to David Shulkin. My only advice to you is to take your cues from veterans and do what you think is right, even if political forces threaten your job," said Tester.

Tester and the other senators on the Veterans Affairs committee said their top priorities for the VA include filling hundreds of empty jobs for doctors, nurses and other clinicians, responding to the growing need for women's health care among veterans, and combating sexual harassment in the agency.

No major objections to his confirmation were raised at the hearing.

Eric Whitney is NPR's Mountain West/Great Plains Bureau Chief, and was the former news director for Montana Public Radio.
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