The Department of Veterans Affairs became embroiled in April 2014 in a series of scandals over its mistreatment of military veterans. Dozens of veterans had died waiting for care at VA hospitals. The agency systematically falsified waiting lists. It retaliated against whistleblowers. It spent money wastefully.
Three months later, when Robert McDonald was confirmed as the agency’s new secretary, he made several promises to “deliver the needed reforms our veterans deserve.”
How is he doing?
Recent headlines offer a clue: “Veterans Affairs pays $142 million in bonuses amid scandals;” “GAO Report: VA is still manipulating wait times for veterans needing care;” “Veteran Burned Himself Alive outside VA Clinic;” “Despite what the VA says, veterans still wait weeks to see a doctor.”
McDonald’s emphasis has shifted from reform to making exuses and blaming others. Speaking on C-SPAN last weekend, he blamed Congress for the problems, accusing it of not giving it enough money.
“If you go back and say, what happened in 2014 that created the crisis, it was obviously a mismatch of supply and demand,” he explained. “Remember, Congress passes the laws that provide benefits for veterans. 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.”
Perhaps it’s progress that McDonald acknowledges that his agency has a very serious problem. It might even at a stretch be regarded as helpful that he understands the laws of supply and demand, although in this case the demand is for a supply of competent and accountable administrators.
But he misdiagnoses both the cause and the remedy.
Waste, abuse and fraud continue to define the agency. It has the federal government’s second-largest budget, which has risen by two-thirds during the Obama presidency. It wastes its money on malpractice payments, gratuitous performance bonuses, and office makeovers.
Worse, veterans are still dying waiting for care, wait-time data are still being fudged and whistleblowers are still being ignored and ostracized. Which is why, when the Pew Research Center asked the public to rate government agencies, the VA came in dead last.
The agency’s problems extend beyond its own incompetence and malfeasance. The Justice Department is slow-walking criminal investigations of the agency, and few staff have been sacked or punished. In his C-SPAN debacle, McDonald dismissed as political a proposed law that would expedite firings.
The VA’s problem isn’t a lack of funding or undue politicization by its critics; rather, it’s a lack of transparency and accountability. It has a defensive, deceptive and obstructive mindset that is characteristic of government agencies staffed by people confident that they won’t be fired and bored with the idea of doing their jobs properly. It’s a frame of mind that inclines employees to blame others when things go wrong, instead of taking responsibility themselves.
The VA has failed its customers. What’s needed is not leaders who point fingers and demand more money — “we’ve failed, pay us more” — but those who will take responsibility for reforming a broken system.
