Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald on Sunday blamed Congress for creating the VA healthcare crisis in 2014, when it was discovered that the VA was systematically manipulating wait-time data to make it appear as if veterans were seeing VA doctors on a timely basis.
That discovery in 2014 forced then-VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign in disgrace, and prompted several investigations that found senior VA officials to be manipulating wait-time data across the country. It also led to the uncovering of other scandals, including senior officials siphoning off hundreds of thousands of dollars in moving expenses, hundreds of millions of dollars in construction cost overruns, and what many say is a program of retaliating against whistleblowers.
But in a CSPAN interview that aired Sunday, McDonald said it’s the fault of Congress for not giving the VA enough money, and said that failure led to the crisis.
“If you go back and say, what happened in 2014 that created the crisis, it was obviously a mismatch of supply and demand,” he said.
“Remember, Congress passes the laws that provide benefits for veterans,” he said. “Congress passes the budget that provides the means of meeting those laws to provide those benefits.”
“When those two don’t match, you’ve got a serious problem, a very serious problem,” McDonald added.
Congress has continued to criticize the VA for failing to use a new law that was aimed at making it easier to fire senior officials involved in the crisis. That law has only been used a few times, however, and many members now want a similar law to ensure the firing of VA officials at all levels quickly, if needed.
But when asked about that legislation, McDonald dismissed it as something that “politicians” are pursuing to win election points.
“We’re involved in a political season, and, you know, the people who look at this are by nature politicians,” he said.
