Veterans groups frustrated with Jackson nomination prior to withdraw: report

A slew of veterans said they were frustrated with Ronny Jackson, President Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), throughout his nomination process, causing them to lose patience with the White House. 

Various veterans groups told the Washington Examiner that the White House never reached out to them after Trump nominated Jackson. 

{mosads}“Nobody contacted us to discuss nominees. That’s their prerogative, but we represent 2 million American veterans in every legislative district in the country. So I think we’re pretty finely tuned in to how the VA works and what veterans want,” an American Legion spokesman told the newspaper. 

The director of the Veterans Service Organization in Ohio, Ed Zackery, told the Examiner that while the White House has reached out on other matters, he never heard from the White House on the VA pick. 

“They didn’t reach out to us on this, which we were surprised about,” Zackery said. 

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment. 

The remarks follow Jackson’s move on Thursday to withdraw his nomination to lead the VA.

Jackson faced mounting questions surrounding a series of misconduct allegations against him. 

The Navy doctor was accused of providing a “large supply” of opioid painkillers to a White House military staffer and allegedly wrecked a government vehicle after getting drunk at a Secret Service going-away party. 

Jackson has denied the allegations. 

“Unfortunately, because of how Washington works, these false allegations have become a distraction for this president and the important issue we must be addressing — how we give the best care to our nation’s heroes,” he said.