VA faces summer of scandal

The resignation of Eric Shinseki is just the beginning of what will likely be a tumultuous summer for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

{mosads}The full extent of the problems in the VA are not yet known, though reports strongly indicate clinics around the country have been systematically covering up long wait times for veterans seeking medical care.

The preliminary results of a VA inspector general report substantiated allegations that a Phoenix clinic kept a secret waiting list while veterans waited an average of 115 days for treatment.

A separate audit ordered by President Obama found that 64 percent of 138 VA facilities had tampered with appointment dates, “signaling a systemic lack of integrity within some Veteran Health Administration facilities.”

The final results of that audit will be released in the coming days, according to Shinseki, who spoke at a conference on veteran homelessness on Friday before he resigned as VA secretary.

Shinseki has tried to right the ship at the VA by firing senior leaders at the Phoenix clinic and canceling bonuses for senior executives in 2014.

But an even bigger housecleaning could be coming soon, particularly if new revelations emerge and VA officials are taken to court.

The leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Friday asked Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday to launch a criminal investigation into the scheduling scandal. 

“We request that the Department of Justice immediately begin appropriate criminal and civil investigations into allegations that the VA falsified patient records at one or more of the VA’s 150 medical centers and 820 community outpatient clinics,” wrote Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).  

The senators called on the FBI and other Justice Department agencies to “swiftly and definitively determine whether any current or former VA officials violated the law and bring any charges that might be appropriate.”

The American Legion said the VA is in need of major reforms and said Shinseki’s resignation was just the beginning of that effort.

“The solution is not complete with Shinseki’s resignation,” American Legion National Commander Daniel M. Dellinger said in a statement.

The focus will likely shift back to the White House as President Obama seeks to neutralize a scandal that has become an embarrassment for his administration and a liability for Democrats seeking reelection.

“In terms of responsibility, as I’ve said before, this is my administration,” he told reporters Friday. “I always take responsibility for whatever happens, and this is an area that I have a particular concern with.”

The president appointed the VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson as acting secretary, who despite having an impressive resume as a West Point graduate, banker and former chief executive, has only been at the VA for three months.

Obama said he was beginning a search for a new permanent secretary, but the job could prove hard to fill.

Whoever takes the reins at the troubled agency will inherit a laundry list of problems. 

In addition to the wait times at clinic, the new VA chief will have to grapple with the agency’s massive medical claims backlog, an influx of veterans coming home from the Afghanistan War and budget cuts from sequestration.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a wounded Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war, said lawmakers would be watching Obama’s moves closely. 

“The immediate challenge is not replacing one person, but fixing what is desperately wrong at the VA,” McCain said. “President Obama appeared to believe that the only real problem at the VA is a scheduling issue, which is a fundamental misreading of the breadth and depth of the situation there.” 

Further revelations about misconduct could turn the VA scandal into a focal point of the midterm elections, possibly to the advantage of the GOP.

Democratic angst about the VA scandal was palpable this week as a parade of Senate Democrats up for reelection demanded that Shinseki step down.

Republicans are unlikely to relent in their attacks on the administration. Speaker Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Friday said Shinseki’s resignation “really changes nothing.” 

“Until the president outlines a vision and an effective plan for addressing the broad dysfunction at the V.A., today’s announcement really changes nothing,” he said. “One personnel change cannot be used an excuse to paper over a systemic problem.”

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who is facing a tough reelection fight this fall, called new leadership “only a first step,” and said she planned to introduce a bill to address concerns in the inspector general’s report. 

“We still must fix the underlying problems at the VA in order to honor our promise to our veterans,” she said.