VA Secretary David Shulkin Fired After Inspector General Finds Ethics Violations on Taxpayer-Funded European Trip

President Trump fired Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin on March 28, 2018, after an Inspector General report found he improperly accepted tickets to Wimbledon tennis matches and allowed taxpayers to pay for his wife’s travel on an 11-day European trip in July 2017 costing at least $122,334. The IG investigation revealed Shulkin’s chief of staff, Vivieca Wright Simpson, made false representations to a VA ethics official and altered an official email record, resulting in VA improperly paying $4,312 in airfare for Shulkin’s wife, Merle Bari. The report documented that a VA employee “effectively acted as a personal travel concierge” for Shulkin and his wife during the trip to Denmark and England.

Background

The February 2018 IG report detailed “serious derelictions” related to Shulkin’s overseas travel, including acceptance of Wimbledon tickets that violated gift rules and manipulation of travel authorizations to improperly charge taxpayers for his wife’s expenses. Wright Simpson’s alteration of an official email to create false justification for spousal travel represented a deliberate attempt to defraud the government. The trip mixed minimal official business with extensive personal tourism, including sightseeing and entertainment activities.

Shulkin claimed after his firing that “There was nothing improper about this trip, and I was not allowed to put up an official statement or to even respond to this by the White House.” He argued the controversy was used politically to weaken him and noted he reimbursed the government after the IG raised concerns. However, the reimbursement came only after being caught, not from voluntary disclosure. Trump announced Shulkin’s dismissal via tweet and nominated White House physician Ronny Jackson as his replacement, though Jackson later withdrew amid his own ethics controversies.

Significance

Shulkin’s firing for ethics violations demonstrated that even Cabinet officials who violated rules relatively modestly compared to others faced consequences when their scandals became politically inconvenient. The alteration of official records by Shulkin’s chief of staff represented potential criminal conduct beyond mere ethics violations. The use of taxpayer funds for personal luxury travel while heading an agency responsible for serving veterans exemplified the Trump Cabinet’s pattern of self-dealing and entitlement. Shulkin’s claim that the White House “muzzled” him and prevented his defense suggested the administration prioritized controlling the narrative over establishing facts. The IG’s findings of “serious derelictions” provided clear documentation of misconduct, yet Shulkin maintained his innocence, illustrating how Trump administration officials reflexively denied wrongdoing even when caught with documentary evidence.