Washington, March 28 (RHC)-- US President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will replace the secretary of Veterans Affairs, David Shulkin, with the White House physician, Ronny Jackson, a move that adds to the continuous reshuffling of his Cabinet.

"I am pleased to announce that I intend to nominate the highly respected admiral and physician, Ronny Jackson, as the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs. In the interim, the honorable Robert Wilkie of the Department of Defense will serve as acting secretary", the president wrote on Twitter.

According to USA Today, Shulkin, who was appointed to that position by former president Barack Obama, was for months in a power struggle with a group of people appointed by Trump among his senior staff who wanted him replaced.

Jackson, Trump’s current presidential physician, was also a holdover from the Obama administration.

With his departure from office, Shulkin  joins more than a dozen of senior officials who have been dismissed or have resigned since the president's inauguration on January 20, 2017, a trend that have led Democrats and analysts to describe the current government as unstable .

Shulkin had pledged the Veterans Administration would not be privatized on his watch.

“The abrupt dismissal of Secretary Shulkin is a troubling step in the Trump Administration’s ultimate goal of VA privatization,” said House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. She is one of several Democrats to link Shulkin’s ousting to the push for privatization.