House lawmakers on Thursday scolded Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin for a trip he and his wife took to Europe last year that cost taxpayers more than $120,000, after a scathing watchdog report said taxpayers should not have paid for what was mostly vacation time.
The VA’s Office of Inspector General released a report Wednesday that said VA staff purposefully bent the rules to allow Shulkin’s wife to travel with him on the taxpayers’ dime. That report said Shulkin’s chief of staff, Vivieca Wright Simpson, purposefully misled VA officials and said Shulkin was going to receive an award in Europe, a condition that would have justified a decision to pay for his wife’s travel.
It also said the VA later told the press incorrectly that ethics officials had cleared the trip, which included about 3 1/2 days of work related to an international conference on veterans, but about 5 1/2 days of free time.
At an early Thursday morning House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing, Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., who has already called for Shulkin to resign, was visibly upset when he asked if he thinks Shulkin’s trip was essential travel.
Shulkin argued the annual conference in Europe did qualify as essential travel. Shulkin didn’t address the rest of his trip, however, which included free tickets to Wimbledon, although he did say the “optics of this are not good.”
“It’s not the optics that are not good, it’s the facts that are not good,” Coffman shot back.
Committee Chairman Phil Roe, R-Tenn., said the committee was “disappointed” in the report, and encouraged Shulkin to comply with the report’s recommendations.
“Like many members of this dais, I was disappointed in the allegations raised by this report,” he said.
“I believe your intentions to serve and care for our nation’s veterans are well clear. You have that mission at heart,” he added. “But that said, as public officials, we’re all expected to be held to a higher standard and be good stewards of tax dollars.”
“I encourage you to take every step to address the findings of this report, and make any changes necessary,” Roe added.
Ranking member Tim Walz, D-Minn., said lawmakers were ready to recommend a criminal investigation.
“The allegations of a potential hacking of a VA computer system with ill intent is a serious matter,” he said. “I would ask you, Mr. Secretary, we’re prepared to ask the Department of Justice to look into that if you think that’s appropriate.”
Lawmakers didn’t address the status of his chief of staff, Vivieca Wright Simpson, who the IG said altered the email to make it seem that Shulkin’s trip involved him getting an award. Wright Simpson is the same staffer who, in 2014, sought to hide details of the VA waitlist scandal from Congress in 2014.
Shulkin said late Wednesday he regrets the report’s findings, and repeated that at the early Thursday morning hearing.
“I do regret the decisions that have been made that have taken the focus off of that important work,” he said, referring to the VA’s ongoing effort to help veterans. “I’m committed to doing what we have to do to focus on veterans and make this better.”
