House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Thursday became the first Republican leader to call on Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign, amid a brewing scandal involving dozens of veteran deaths while waiting for medical care.
He made his position known in a lengthy statement, saying he has received “countless complaints from my constituents of extended wait times and delayed benefits claims at the VA in Los Angeles” and that he offered legislation last October to “address these abhorrent failings in the VA.” He allowed that the failings “are not new.”
“General Shinseki, Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, has served his country with honor and integrity. No one doubts his dedication to our nation’s veterans. However, the current state of the VA is wholly unacceptable and has become a national embarrassment – it requires immediate action,” McCarthy said. “I believe new leadership at the Department of Veterans Affairs is imperative to fixing the wrong that this massive bureaucracy has done to the men and women we owe so much to. Therefore, today, I call on General Shinseki to do what is right and step aside as Secretary effective immediately.”
President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders are standing by Shinseki, who has said he’s committed to fixing the problem and is “mad as hell” about the allegations that VA officials sought to cover up long waiting list.
Resign yourself and do us all a favor.
Given that many of the problems at the VA are a direct result of Republicans policies and reduced funding over the years . . . YOU FIRST
Man, these politicians all look silly, running to outdo each other in calling the loudest for a “show” firing. if all the managers are fired, who’s supposed to do the work to clean up the backlog? Funny, but it seems to me that getting fired would be the easy out for VA managers - having to solve problems and put themselves up for public scrutiny with results is the most painful. Not that work, per se, is punishment, but having this level of scrutiny could be uncomfortable. And no guarantee of recognition if they do succeed.
And Shinseki should turn around and demand that the GOP leadership all resign enmasse for their part in not providing enough funding to allow the VA to help those veterans informing them that the reason why the deaths happened is not just because of a few bad apples but because the GOP has refused consistently to properly fund the VA in a misguided attempt at “austerity”.
This is what the so-called leadership of the party does when they’re not in session, they issue cheap shot statements. Next up, Cantor and Rodgers and then Orangina.