Senate confirms Robert Wilkie as veterans affairs secretary
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Monday confirmed Pentagon official Robert Wilkie to be secretary of Veterans Affairs, charged with delivering on President Trump’s campaign promises to fire bad VA employees and steer more patients to the private sector.
Wilkie won approval on a bipartisan vote of 86 to 9, securing the backing of many Democrats after insisting at his confirmation hearing that he will not privatize the government’s second-largest department.