Bush to nominate James Peake as VA Secretary.
Bush to nominate James Peake as VA Secretary.
Three months after Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Jim Nicholson announced his resignation, President Bush plans to announce a replacement. In a press conference at 1:05 PM EST today, he will nominate Dr. James Peake, who previously served as the U.S. Army surgeon general for four years.
UPDATE: When Peake left the post of Surgeon General in 2004, he was replaced by Maj. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, who oversaw the Walter Reed scandal.
UPDATE II: Yesterday, the Senate leadership, frustrated with Bush’s delay in naming a new secretary, “demanded” that he nominate a permanent head:
Much has been said over the last six years about honoring the service and the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform. But what matters to those who are fighting these wars is not the talk, but the actions we take. The lack of a qualified VA nominee more than three months after the resignation of the previous Secretary signals to our troops fighting today, to the veterans of wars past, and to the entire nation, that the Department of Veterans Affairs is not a priority for your administration.
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Nominate? You mean he won’t do his usual recess-appointment bullsh!t?
October 30th, 2007 at 11:02 amIn keeping with the Bushie’s pattern, us vets will be screwed once again.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:02 amDoes anyone know if this is a position which requires Senate or other confirmation?
October 30th, 2007 at 11:02 amUnless the guy is a GOPer loving fool, then he will be confirmed to this position.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:06 am#3 — Chris L, yes this position requires Senate confirmation.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:10 am#3 — Chris L, yes this position requires Senate confirmation.
Comment by Amanda — October 30, 2007 @ 11:10 am
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Thank you.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:13 amIf the almighty Commander Guy had any honor at all he would step down.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:16 amIf the Relevant Decider Guy had any honor at all, he would have appointed someone qualified and not waited until he could find one willing to sign a loyality oath.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:19 amChris L:
If the Senate fails to confirm Dr. Peake before it goes into recess for the remainder of the year — mid-November — then the President can make a recess appointment and Dr. Peake would serve until the expiration of the 110th Congress at the end of next year.
Unless Peake has some major skeletons in his closet, he probably will be confirmed.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:20 amWell he seems more qualified than most of W’s appointments, but hey, who doesn’t?
October 30th, 2007 at 11:25 amComment by Don in Texas — October 30, 2007 @ 11:20 am
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Thank you. Hopefully Reid will use the same technique as he did in August and call the Senate into session just long enough to force the president to send his nominees who need confirmation to the chamber, hence preventing recess appointments. If Reid does this, and the Senate still doesn’t grant approval, it still prevents Bush from granting a recess appointment.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:27 amLove how the Bush administration SUPPORTS OUR TROOPS.
/sarc off
October 30th, 2007 at 11:35 amtheres a squirrel in my tree that is more qualified. this numnutz was here and allowed the problem to happen and he wants to give him his job back? f that. someone else already too k the fall for it so he thinks he can shove the perpetrator back in.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:39 amso he thinks he can shove the perpetrator back in.
Comment by bob h — October 30, 2007 @ 11:39 am
Uh… and just exactly WHERE would he be shoving that perp?
Just asking?
October 30th, 2007 at 11:44 amJames Peake was right in the middle of the Walter Reed mess and guilty as hell in fcking over the wounded.
Bush is showing his real love for veterans nominating this POS for the VA.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:58 amUnless Peake has some major skeletons in his closet, he probably will be confirmed.
Comment by Don in Texas — October 30, 2007 @ 11:20 am
Just the skeletons of War Wounded who died from ( lack of ) care at Walter Reed, under his supervision. We will see if the Senators think this is major or not. I will be watching this one closely to see who votes for this hack.
October 30th, 2007 at 12:02 pmI’m thrilled as hell to attack anything Chimpy does, but I’m not so sure this is a bad appointment — and I’m an Iraq vet and the son of a physician.
First, Peake was the Surgeon General of the Army, not the commander of Walter Reed, and that was only until July 2004, long before the scandal became the scandal (in 2004, recall, there had still been less than 700 KIA in the war). The SG of the Army is in charge of what is called AMEDD, which runs the entire army medical system, including training and all hospitals.
For the Head Vet, Peake has solid qualifications, by army standards. He was wounded twice as a combat infantryman in Vietnam and was awarded a Silver Star and a Bronze Star with V for Valor. He was a paratrooper, a Pathfinder, and he commanded the three medical units that are generally considered to be the best in the army.
His c.v. as a physician seems good as well, at least judging by the standards my father held. Cornell, board certified chest surgeon, peer-reviewed publications.
I don’t know if he’s a loyal Bushie or not (I suspect he is) but he doesn’t appear to be another Brownie, either.
October 30th, 2007 at 2:03 pmDumb Question – it is a fact that an incoming leader is somewhat saddled by the successes and failings of the previous leader (To take it to the extreme, everything bad that happens to Shrub is because of Clinton).
That being said, how much of the Walter Reid problems were active during Peake’s watch ?
October 30th, 2007 at 2:04 pmMapleStreet — it’s almost certainly the case that the WRAMC problems were “active” while Peake was Surgeon General of the Army, but probably at so low a level that they wouldn’t have ordinarily been elevated to his level.
Remember, there’s a norm in the military that problems should be solved at the lowest feasible level of command. Any problems at WRAMC, given the then-manageable casualty rate (mid-2004), would in the ordinary course of things have been handled at the WRAMC commander’s level unless he needed more resources, in which case he would have approached Peake for them. We have no evidence one way or the other that he did or did not approach Peake for further resources.
October 30th, 2007 at 2:10 pm