President Trump on Friday signed legislation giving Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin and other agency leaders more authority to remove low-performing employees as well as offer new protections to whistleblowers.

"This was not an easy one," Trump said of the bill Friday morning during a ceremony at the White House. "This is one of the largest reforms to the VA in its history."

The president noted the VA accountability legislation was part of his campaign promise to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs and ensure officials who caused problems, such as those who led to the Obama administration's VA scandal, could easily be fired.

"Veterans were put on secret wait lists, given the wrong medication, given the bad treatments and ignored in moments of crisis for them," Trump said of the VA scandal. "Many veterans died waiting for a simple doctor's appointment. What happened was a national disgrace. And yet some of the employees involved in these scandals remained on the payrolls."

Trump blamed "outdated laws" for preventing VA leaders from removing officials who had covered up the long delays in care that left dozens of veterans dead.

The VA accountability law will allow Shulkin to bypass some of the bureaucratic requirements that had accompanied firings, as well as appoint new medical directors and extend greater protections to employees who report misconduct within the agency.