Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald on Tuesday downplayed the challenges he’s facing as he tries to reform the broken agency, just days after a report was released saying the VA is “not well positioned” to solve its numerous challenges under his leadership.
McDonald appeared on Fox News, where he was asked to respond to claims from presidential candidate Carly Fiorina that 307,000 veterans died waiting for healthcare.
That number came from a report that said 307,000 names on the VA’s list of “pending” enrollees were deceased. While all 307,000 of those veterans may have died waiting for healthcare, it’s not clear, because the VA’s data was too poor to make a determination.
But McDonald ignored the weakness in the VA’s own system, and instead pointed to a Washington Post fact check that said Fiorina earned two Pinnocchios for her statement.
“No, that’s not true,” McDonald said.
The Washington Post admitted “it is possible” that all 307,000 veterans applied unsuccessfully for healthcare, but said that’s a “worst-case scenario,” and said the Office of Inspector General couldn’t confirm the figure.
When asked about the VA’s problem keeping its data straight, McDonald dodged the question and said the VA is working to reform. McDonald was put in place after last year’s scandal, in which it became clear that VA employees at a senior level were manipulating their data to make it seem as if veterans were quickly able to access VA care.
“We in the VA are undergoing the biggest transformation in our history. We’re making progress, but we’re not where we need to be.”
But even those hedged claims were seriously undermined late last week by an internal report, paid for by the VA, that created an assessment of the Veterans Health Administration. That report found that even now, the VA is not prepared to take on the kind of reforms it needs to succeed.
“As the assessment reports reveal, the number of issues VHA currently faces appears overwhelming,” it said. “In its current state, VHA is not well positioned to succeed in the transformation that this analysis suggests.”
It also seemed to point a finger directly at the VA’s top leaders.
“VHA is in the midst of a leadership crisis,” it said.
Additionally, it said the way to reform is removing political influence from the decision-making process, a factor that many veterans have cited as a major problem.
“Establish a governance board to develop fundamental policy, define the strategic direction, insulate VHA leadership from direct political intervention…” read one recommendation.
Concerned Veterans of America CEO Pete Hegseth said last week that the internal report goes against the general story the VA has tried to pitch that it is slowly making progress.
“This comprehensive examination of the current structure and operations at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) provides bullet-proof, professional and independent evidence that we need real reform at the VA — not just the changes at the margins that the current VA leadership has proposed through its ‘MyVA’ plan,” he said.
