Sean Duffy Calls For VA Secretary’s Resignation

U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Weston, has called for Veteran’s Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign.

Duffy says the last straw was a damning inspector general report, which he says shows gross mismanagement at VA clinics.

“We have a secretary that is responsible for managing the VA,” said Duffy. “If he doesn’t know this is going on when we’ve had a number of vets around the country make complaints about the VA system and nothing was done, it’s either incompetence or negligence.”

U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, says calls for resignation are premature.

“There’s still an independent investigation going on with the IG’s office, with an internal audit that the VA is conducting, White House involvement and congressional oversight,” said Kind. “Listen, if there’s evidence showing that General Shinseki as Secretary of the VA was aware of this problem and did not take protective action, I’ll be the first in line asking for his resignation and asking the President to remove him. But, we’re not there yet.”

Since the scandal broke out, Kind says he’s toured VA clinics in Wisconsin: “And I feel more reassured today that we don’t have that problem in Wisconsin.”

Duffy, however, says Shinseki has lost both his trust and the trust of veterans.

“What we do have is administrators in the VA lying about the wait times, (saying) that it’s only taken 24 days for a primary care appointment and instead it took 115 days,” said Duffy. “It’s not a funding problem to say that we’re putting 1,700 veterans on a secret waiting list. And some of them have passed away.”

Both Duffy and Kind say veterans have earned the right to a high level of care from their service, and that they’re not getting it.