JUDY WOODRUFF: New details raise further questions
about President Trump's pick to head Veterans
Affairs Department.
John Yang explores some of the sticking points.
JOHN YANG: Judy, today, the White House stepped
up its defense of Dr. Ronny Jackson.
Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said he had
been fully checked out before President Trump
chose him, even as shocking new developments
emerged today.
We are now joined by Senator Sherrod Brown,
a Democrat of Ohio who is a member of the
Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
Senator Brown, thanks for joining us.
I know, late this afternoon, the Senate -- the
committee's Democratic summary of what they
have been told about the allegations against
Dr. Jackson emerged.
What to you is the most troubling on it?
What's the most surprising on it?
SEN.
SHERROD BROWN (D), Ohio: Well, I would emphasize,
it may have been the Democratic staff putting
this out, but it's the bipartisan move by
the committee, the Republican chair, to delay
the hearing on Dr. Jackson, Admiral Jackson,
because they want to know, too, what exactly
happened.
And Senator Tester, the senior Democrat, and
I are -- and others on the committee are talking
a lot to individual Senate Republicans of
what they're hearing and what they're thinking.
Perhaps the most troubling -- the most troubling
thing to me is that the White House prized
loyalty and likability of Dr. Jackson more
than they did the ultimate issue here, and
that is what's best for veterans.
And this started with firing Dr. Shulkin,
because Dr. Shulkin opposed the privatization,
the politicization of the VA coming out of
White House.
I think probably the most troubling single
thing about Dr. Jackson -- and this is corroborated
by enough people -- 23 people have come forward,
military or former military, talking to us,
that he was so inebriated one night, he even
went out -- or one day -- and wrecked a government
car.
Things like that, the president clearly didn't
ask questions about.
His staff didn't before he was nominated.
And this just creates chaos.
And the most important job here is, how do
you take care of nine million veterans?
And they have injected this chaos into the
whole upper management of the VA.
And there is -- you know, there is -- it is
a leaderless institution now, a leaderless
agency that takes care of nine million veterans.
JOHN YANG: I should point out that Dr. Jackson
told reporters at the White House this afternoon
that he denies wrecking a car, and he also
said that that is easy to check, and he's
moving forward with his nomination, he said.
There's also allegations in the summary that
he was prescribing Percocet, an opioid, to
people on the White House staff, and that
they were having trouble tracking it in the
White House Medical Office.
SEN.
SHERROD BROWN: Yes.
I mean, we hear all these things.
We see this corroborated by a number of people.
Again, 23 people, military, active-duty, or
retired military or veterans who have moved
on to other things have spoken about these
issues, this whole host of issues.
They have credibility.
We want to get to the bottom of it.
But what's clear here is, the White House,
first, they fire Dr. Shulkin because they
wanted to politically -- they want to politicize
the VA and privatize it.
And the president seems to go along with the
Koch brothers and others, against what every
veterans group that has spoken out about it
says, and the veterans groups, whether they're
the Legion, the VFW, the AMVETS, the Disabled
American Vets, the Paralyzed Vets.
All of them oppose the privatization of VA,
because they know the people on top that make
money from this private company, that veterans'
health services and morale at the agency always
suffers when you do that.
So, you start with that, but now then there's
more chaos injected here, because there's
no backup plan.
And, I mean, I talk to people that work at
the Cincinnati VA, or the Dayton VA, or the
Chillicothe or Cleveland VAs, or the community-based
outpatient clinics in Lima and Mansfield,
Ohio, and they tell you, we just want a VA
that has got a stable management, that does
predictable things, instead of this chaos
with no end in sight, as Dr. Jackson continues
to flounder and people in both parties keep
asking questions that the White House never
asked.
JOHN YANG: Well, you say the White House never
asked.
Do you have a question about the -- or your
concerns about how well the White House is
vetting some of these nominees?
SEN.
SHERROD BROWN: No, I'm concerned that they're
vetting at all.
From my observations up close -- I have been
in the White House a number of times.
I have watched them up close.
I have seen their nomination process up pretty
close.
I mean, I'm not at the White House watching
them do the nominations.
But what happens is, the president finds -- has
an idea of somebody, usually based on likability
and loyalty, loyalty to the president, not
necessarily to the people this Cabinet agency
person might -- person they might serve, like
veterans.
He likes them.
He finds them loyal.
He says he wants to nominate them, and they
move without staff saying, wait a minute,
Mr. President, like they always say in every
other White House, wait a minute, we need
to make a lot of calls to find out his background,
if there's any problems, if he's had management
issues or substance abuse issues or performance
issues.
These 23 people we talked to, apparently,
none or very few of them were ever called
by the White House.
JOHN YANG: Quickly, Senator, Dr. Jackson says
he wants a hearing so he can address these
allegations.
Do you think he deserves a confirmation hearing,
so he can speak?
SEN.
SHERROD BROWN: Sure.
I just want something to happen quickly, and
I want to get this resolved.
I think, though, the deal should be, if there's
a hearing, that the president should have
a backup plan in place now, somebody that
really is well-vetted, that could come and
run the VA.
JOHN YANG: Senator Brown, Sherrod Brown of
Ohio, thanks so much for joining us.
SEN.
SHERROD BROWN: Thank you so much.
