TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s Republican Party has named Peter O’Rourke, a former acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs under the Trump administration, as its new executive director.
O’Rourke is widely seen as a loyalist for President Donald Trump. In its announcement Monday, the party said O’Rourke would help the party deliver Florida for Trump’s re-election.
O’Rourke was acting secretary for two months, from May 2018 until the confirmation of current VA Secretary Robert Wilkie.
Wilkie then asked for O’Rourke’s resignation in December.
During his tenure, O’Rourke came under fire for his management style and for his clashes with lawmakers.
In December, the Washington Post noted that O’Rourke was being paid $160,000 a year while doing little work. He responded that “there were times I didn’t have a lot to do.”
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