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President Trump announced Friday that he will be nominating Acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie to officially lead the agency.

Timing: The announcement comes nearly one month after Dr. Ronny Jackson announced he was withdrawing his nomination following allegations of alcohol abuse and overprescription of medication.

The curveball: Trump said Acting VA Sec. Wilkie did not know about his announcement and that he was sorry to ruin the surprise.

The VA's latest: The VA just awarded a $10 billion contract to Cerner to upgrade the VA's electronic health records system, Axios' Bob Herman reports.

Trump taps acting secretary Robert Wilkie to lead Veterans Affairs

Politics

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

President Trump announced Friday that he will be nominating Acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie to officially lead the agency.Timing: The announcement comes nearly one month after Dr. Ronny Jackson announced he was <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="withdrawing his nomination" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/ronny-jackson-withdraw-nomination-va-veterans-affairs-5ae9525a-df33-4679-9c24-433338b44943.html" data-vars-content-id="c6822536-159a-41ff-ba48-884bd440cc49" data-vars-headline="Trump taps acting secretary Robert Wilkie to lead Veterans Affairs" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/ronny-jackson-withdraw-nomination-va-veterans-affairs-5ae9525a-df33-4679-9c24-433338b44943.html" target="_self">withdrawing his nomination</a> following allegations of alcohol abuse and overprescription of medication.

2024 will be an election year like no other, as President Biden seeks re-election amid economic uncertainty, two wars and questions about his age. His likely foe, former President Trump, faces felony charges and vows revenge on his political enemies. Meanwhile, Americans generally are dissatisfied with those choices and are divided over immigration, race, education and more.

Politics & Policy

Trump taps acting secretary Robert Wilkie to lead Veterans Affairs

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