Obama, under increasing pressure on VA, promises accountability after internal review

May 23 2014

As outrage grows about allegations of wrongdoing at VA facilities around the country, the president sticks by VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, at least for now.

The Wall Street Journal: Obama Pushes Accountability At VA
President Barack Obama took ownership of the burgeoning crisis at the Department of Veterans Affairs, saying Wednesday that he is ultimately responsible for any misconduct, a move that raises the stakes for the White House as calls accelerate for new leadership at the agency. Mr. Obama addressed the allegations of wrongdoing at VA hospitals for the first time since remarks three weeks ago in Asia. He said he expects VA Secretary Eric Shinseki next week to provide him with preliminary results of an inquiry into claims by VA employees that patients face excessive wait times for care and that secret bookkeeping was used to cover up the delays (Lee and Kesling, 5/21).

The New York Times: Shinseki In Line of Fire, From The Chief
President Obama stopped short of dressing down his veterans affairs secretary, Eric Shinseki, during a blunt hourlong talk in the Oval Office on Wednesday. But the commander in chief made clear that a growing health care scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs had put the future of Mr. Shinseki -; a retired four-star general and no stranger to Washington political uproars -; once again on the line (Stolberg and Shear, 5/21).

Los Angeles Times: At Least For Now, Obama Stands By VA Secretary Eric Shinseki
As the investigation into complaints that VA facilities have concealed long waits for healthcare widened Wednesday, President Obama vowed he would not tolerate misconduct at the Department of Veterans Affairs and stood by the agency's chief -; for now (Hennessey and Simon, 5/21).

Politico: President Obama Defends Eric Shinseki, Demands VA Answers
Speaking at the White House after an Oval Office meeting with Shinseki and deputy chief of staff Rob Nabors, Obama said if allegations that as many as 40 veterans have died as a result of records being doctored, along with other charges of mismanagement, prove to be true, "it is dishonorable, it is disgraceful," adding "I will not stand for it -; as a commander in chief, but also as an American." Asked repeatedly if the secretary has offered to resign -; or whether he should -; the president gave a roundabout statement of wavering confidence -; but only after catching himself praising Shinseki's work on veterans' homelessness and the Post-9/11 Bill (Dovere, 5/22).

McClatchy: Obama Stands By VA Boss Shinseki; Veterans Aren't Satisfied
But the president's first public remarks on the VA controversy in three weeks failed to quell growing fury among veterans groups and lawmakers, who demanded that Obama clean house at the troubled agency starting at the top with VA Secretary Eric Shinseki. The president's long-awaited remarks were "a tremendous disappointment" and gave veterans no reason to hope for change at the VA, said Paul Rieckhoff, the head of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a nonprofit based in Washington (Wise and Clark, 5/21).

PBS NewsHour: Why Is It So Hard For Some Veterans To Get Care From The VA?
President Obama defended embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki Wednesday, but warned that someone will be held accountable for any revealed shortcomings amid allegations that 40 veterans died awaiting care. Gwen Ifill gets two views on the troubles inside the VA from former Defense Department official David McGinnis and Joseph Violante of Disabled American Veterans (Ifill, 5/21). 

Politico: Anatomy Of A Veterans' Affairs Scandal
But the tsunami of problems with the veterans' health care that smashed into the White House had been building for years, growing larger and more menacing as it headed toward the Oval Office. The slow-burn story at the Phoenix VA went from a largely ignored congressional hearing and a local news report before it landed on CNN and then exploded in the national media and seized the White House -; the latest reminder that it isn't always the president who sets the agenda (Gold, 5/21).

The New York Times: History And Context Of An Embattled Department Of Veterans Affairs
The uproar over medical care for military veterans involves one of the nation's biggest health care systems, a far-flung operation that treats 6.5 million people a year at 151 hospitals and 820 outpatient clinics, with more than 18,000 doctors and an annual budget of more than $57 billion (Pear, 5/21).

And across town, Congress was also taking action on the controversy -

The Associated Press: Amid Growing Outcry, House Approves Bill To Speed Firings At VA
The House has approved a bill to give the Veterans Affairs secretary more authority to fire or demote senior executives at the agency. The bill responds to a growing furor over allegations of treatment delays and preventable deaths at VA hospitals. The department's inspector general says 26 facilities are being investigated nationwide, including a Phoenix hospital facing allegations that 40 people died while waiting for treatment (Daly, 5/21).

CNN: 3 Senior VA Officials Called To Capitol Hill Amid Claims Of Cover-Ups
Three senior VA officials could get grilled on Capitol Hill Thursday after months of allegations of cooked books, a secret wait list and cover-ups in the Veterans Affairs health care system. The chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, GOP Rep. Jeff Miller of California, called the three officials to a committee business meeting Thursday to discuss the VA's ordeal. Miller has accused the VA of failing to adequately respond to his panel's May 8 subpoena, which included a request for information about the alleged destruction of the secret wait list in Phoenix. Officials have denied any knowledge of it (Bronstein, Cohen and Yan, 5/22). 

Meanwhile, Texas lawmakers are concerned too -

The Texas Tribune: Legislatures Look To Help Cut Wait Times At VA Clinics
Amid recent allegations of excessive wait times for veterans at several VA clinics across the nation, the quality of care at VA medical centers in Texas is getting extra attention. And while the state is limited in what it can do at the federal facilities, legislators are still seeking to take action to help curb wait times. "While our reality is that this is a federally run and funded agency that serves Texas residents, that does not mean that Texas cannot ensure that our veterans are taken care of in the honorable way they deserve and have earned," said state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, chairwoman of the Senate Veteran Affairs and Military Installations Committee. "It should not take a whistleblower and numerous deaths to raise the flag on issues like these" (Ura, 5/22).