Obama: Shinseki Stays for Now, but VA Misconduct Will Be Punished
(CNN) — President Barack Obama promised accountability, but he made clear Wednesday he won’t fire Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki — yet — over excessive and sometimes deadly waiting times faced by veterans seeking government health care.
The controversy has mushroomed since CNN first reported the problem last November in a detailed investigation examining several VA hospitals.
After meeting with Shinseki at the White House, Obama held a hastily arranged news conference in which he said he needed more time to review what was going on.
“If these allegations prove to be true, it is dishonorable, it is disgraceful, and I will not tolerate it, period,” the President said in his first public comments in weeks on the issue.
More: Obama: Shinseki Stays for Now, but VA Misconduct Will Be Punished
Here’s more from Al Jazeera from last week:
Former four-star Gen. Eric Shinseki, now secretary of veterans affairs, has been under pressure for weeks. Allegations are swirling of secret waiting lists at a veterans’ health care system in Phoenix, Arizona, that may be linked to more than 40 deaths.
Shinseki sat before a panel of Veterans Affairs Committee members in the Senate on Thursday, swearing to find answers and fix the problems.
“Any adverse incident like this makes me mad as hell,” Shinseki said. “I could use stronger language, but in deference to the committee, I won’t.”
The charges underscore a crisis within the veteran benefits system, which has seen backlogs and bureaucracy challenges for years.
“This is not new news,” asserted the committee chairman, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. “These concerns did not arise yesterday or in Phoenix. There have been reports by the inspector general and the General Accounting Office on numerous occasions about problems having to do with scheduling and with waiting lists.”
It is a disgrace. And if the GOP tries to Benghazi this situation, as you know they will, it will be even more disgraceful.