GOP renews call for Shinseki resignation

Republicans took to Twitter on Wednesday to renew their call for Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign after an inspector general report confirmed allegations of secret wait lists that delayed veteran care.

The interim report released Wednesday also spurred a number of other Republicans to demand Shinseki’s resignation for the first time, including House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), as well as Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake, who represent the state where the allegations started.

The chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), also called for the secretary to step down for the first time. 

 

The interim report found that 1,700 veterans in Phoenix were not included on an official wait list, even though they had requested care. The average wait time in the clinic was 115 days. News reports have alleged that 40 veterans died while on secret wait list, though it is unclear if those deaths resulted from the long wait times. But the inspector general said determinations of the cause of death required further analysis.

Shinseki called the findings unacceptable.

While some Republicans called for Shinseki’s resignation, others said a criminal probe is now necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

A few Democrats also called the findings unacceptable, including Sen. Mark Udall (Colo.) who became the first Democratic Senator to ask for Shinseki to resign.

 

—This post has been updated.

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