President Donald Trump is considering Palm City Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Mast for the position of Veterans Affairs secretary, a position still vacant after White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson withdrew his controversial nomination for the post last month.
Gold Star mother Karen Vaughn, who spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention about the death of her Navy SEAL son in Afghanistan, is considering a GOP primary challenge to freshman Congressman Rep. Brian Mast, Republican from Palm City.
A congressman who served in Afghanistan is championing an idea to request departing servicemembers sign an oath not to harm themselves, as a method to deter veteran suicides.
When Dr. David Shulkin was appointed secretary of veterans affairs in February, President Donald Trump charged him with the ambitious mission of reducing the veteran suicide rate to zero. Which means that for Shulkin to truly succeed in his role as the head of an agency that on numerous occasions in recent years has been accused of fatally neglecting patients in its care, the VA will need to ensure that not a single living person who has ever served in the U.S. military dies by suicide on his watch. That’s more than 20 million people.
