Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich said Wednesday that President Trump wants “Fox & Friends Weekend” co-host Pete Hegseth as his next Veterans Affairs (VA) secretary.
“I’ve been told President Trump wants Pete Hegseth to replace [David] Shulkin at the VA after he is fired,” Pavlich wrote in a tweet to her 508,000 followers.
{mosads}”President Donald Trump is expected to fire VA Secretary David Shulkin and is strongly considering replacing him with U.S. Army Veteran Pete Hegseth,” Pavlich, who’s also a columnist for The Hill, wrote on TownHall, citing three identified sources.
She notes that Energy Secretary and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) is also rumored to be on the short list to take over the VA from Shulkin, the lone Obama-era holdout in Trump’s Cabinet.
According to an Axios report earlier this week, Trump asked Hegseth, 37, to analyze new VA legislation while a surprised Shulkin listened in via speaker phone.
There was speculation before Trump took office that Hegseth, who also appears on other Fox News programs as a contributing analyst, was a top contender to lead the VA.
Prior to television, Hegseth served in the U.S. Army National Guard. He was deployed three times overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan and served in Guantánamo Bay, earning two Bronze Stars.
The Hill has reached out to Fox News for comment.