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It sure sounds like Trump’s VA secretary should be dusting off his resume

March 26, 2018 by  
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A confidant of President Trump said the commander-in-chief’s “perplexed” by reports the White House is engulfed in chaos because of staff turnover but said “one or two major changes” are still coming.

“He told me he thinks the White House is operating like a smooth machine – his words,” Christopher Ruddy said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week. “He did say that he’s expecting to make one or two major changes to his government very soon and that’s going to be it.”

Ruddy, the founder of the Newsmax website, said the president told him on Saturday that Veterans Affairs secretary David Shulkin will be out “very soon.”

But, he said, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson are safe for now.

“But other reports, people like Ben Carson, I’m told that the president is happy with the job he’s doing, he will be staying; chief of Staff Kelly, the president is happy with the job he is doing, he will be staying,” Ruddy said.

Other media outlets, including the Associated Press and the Axios website, also reported Sunday that Shulkin could be gone this week and that Kelly and Carson are safe.

A source told the AP that the chances of Sulkin’s ouster in the next day or two are at “50-50.”

The Trump administration is looking at about six candidates to replace Shulkin, including Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth, a former military officer and former CEO of the Concerned Veterans of America, the AP report said.

Along with Hegseth, other candidates are former Rep. Jeff Miller, the Republican chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee; retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg; Toby Cosgrove, former president and CEO of the Cleveland Clinic; and Leo Mackay Jr., a former VA deputy secretary.

The president, Kelly, the White House Office of Presidential Personnel and the head of Trump’s Domestic Policy Council are leading the replacement search and asking friends and allies for recommendations.

Turnover in the Trump administration has set a dizzying pace.

In March alone, White House budget director Gary Cohn, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, national security adviser H.R. McMaster and deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe have all left.

Shulkin, appointed by former President Obama, came under fire for accepting a 10-day trip to London and Denmark last year with his wife that included sightseeing excursions and tickets to Wimbledon.

Carson has also been criticized for picking a $31,000 dining room set for his Washington headquarters.

He threw his wife under the bus at first, saying she and a HUD assistant selected the pricey furniture, but finally told a Senate committee hearing, “I take responsibility.”

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Toxic Gases Blamed for Iowa Family’s Death in Mexican Condo

March 26, 2018 by  
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In posts on social media, family members said the Sharps had been expected to return on March 21 after about a week in Mexico.

Kelly Franklin, an English professor, said Amy Sharp was the first person she met when she moved to Creston in 2013.

“She told it like it was. You knew where you stood with her,” Ms. Franklin said, adding that Ms. Sharp “was such a good friend.”

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She added that her son, James, 12, was friends with Sterling and her daughter, Violet, 8, was friends with Adrianna.

“James wants everyone to know that Sterling was kind and really silly, and that he was a friend to everyone,” Ms. Franklin said. “He also wants everyone to know that Sterling was the most athletic” of all their friends.

She remembered Adrianna as a spirited child who enjoyed drama and dance, adding, “My daughter Violet has been very sad to know that she won’t be dancing with her friend.”

Luis Avila, the president of the Adams County Fair and Racing Association in Corning, Iowa, said he had known Mr. Sharp, who was a stock car racer and a board member for the association, for about a decade. “He was a good family man,” he said.

“It isn’t going to be the same without him and the kids, the family,” Mr. Avila added. “It’s just a big shock.”

A vigil for the family was held on Saturday night at the speedway where the Sharp family used to gather to watch Mr. Sharp race his stock car, No. 2.

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About 300 people attended the ceremony in Corning and raised two fingers alongside their candles, Mr. Avila said. There was music, a sermon, and speeches in memory of the family. Relatives of the Sharps were “very touched by what went on,” he added. “It was just a great thing to do for them.”

Louis Lucero II contributed reporting.


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