The White House has backed down from its claim that David Shulkin, the former head of the Department of Veterans Affairs, resigned from his position, conceding on Monday that his departure was involuntary.
On Monday, the White House director of strategic communications Mercedes Schlapp admitted that President Donald Trump's chief of staff John Kelly "called Shulkin and gave him the opportunity to resign," she said on Fox News' "Fox & Friends."
"Obviously, the key here is that the president has made a decision. He wanted a change in the Department of Veterans Affairs. He wanted more results coming out of that particular department. . . That is why he moved to make this change."
Fox News reporter Abby Huntsman then pressed Schlapp, saying: "So he didn't resign. So we can clear that up. It was more of a decision made by the president. He knew a change needed to be made and he made that change."
Schlapp replied: "General Kelly offered him the opportunity to resign. At this point, the president said it was time to move on in terms of Veterans Affairs. He thanks Secretary Shulkin for his service."
Although the White House last Friday released a statement that Shulkin had "resigned," the former secretary disputed their account in an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"I came to fight for our veterans, and I had no intention of giving up," Shulkin said. "There would be no reason for me to resign."
On Sunday the White House reiterated the claim that Shulkin resigned, telling HuffPost that "our statement still stands."
In an interview on CNN's "New Day," Monday, Shulkin once again claimed that he was fired, and that Trump did so in a tweet.
"I came to Washington with the commitment to make our system work better for veterans," he said. "That's the commitment that I went to work every day. I continue to feel strongly about that. There was no reason why I would resign."
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