Dive Brief:
- President Obama today will nominate Rob McDonald, 61, former CEO of Proctor & Gamble and a West Point graduate, to take the reins at the struggling Dept. of Veterans Affairs, White House officials told various media outlets.
- His nomination will come on the heels of a June 27 White House report finding "significant and chronic system failures" and a "corrosive culture" at the Veterans Health Administration. The scathing report said VHA, which treats nearly 9 million veterans annually, has ignored warnings about its deficiencies and requires fundamental restructuring.
- From 2009 to 2013, McDonald ran P&G, a global consumer-products company with more than 120,000 employees.
Dive Insight:
There is consensus that McDonald is an unorthodox pick for VA Secretary, a job held in recent years by medical professionals, politicians or retired generals (such as former Army general Eric Shinseki, who resigned from the post May 30 amid escalating problems). McDonald did serve in the Army for five years and achieved the rank of captain before taking a job at P&G.
McDonald's nomination to the VA's top post would seem to have the GOP's backing. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) issued an immediate statement praising McDonald's military service and his work in the private business sector, as did others. The Washington Post points out that McDonald has given financial support to Republicans politicians in the past, including Boehner and Mitt Romney.
The veterans community expressed more caution, however, with the head of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America citing McDonald's lack of a medical background. (Obama's earlier pick, Cleveland Clinic CEO Dr. Toby Cosgrove, withdrew from consideration June 7.) The Post noted that even if McDonald is confirmed quickly, the VA will remain under close scrutiny by Congress — and the FBI.
