USA/FILE: House Speaker John Boehner calls on President Barack Obama to address mismanagement in healthcare facilities for veterans after Veterans Affairs chief General Eric Shinseki resigns amidst a firestorm

Record ID: 864424

  • Title: USA/FILE: House Speaker John Boehner calls on President Barack Obama to address mismanagement in healthcare facilities for veterans after Veterans Affairs chief General Eric Shinseki resigns amidst a firestorm
  • Date: 30th May 2014
  • Summary: WASHINGTON D.C, UNITED STATES (MAY 30, 2014) (UNRESTRICTED POOL) (SOUNDBITE) (English) HOUSE SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER, SAYING : "General Shinseki has dedicated his life to our country and we thank him for his service. His resignation though does not absolve the president of his responsibility to step in and make things right for our veterans. Business as usual cannot continue.
  • Embargoed: 14th June 2014 13:00
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  • Location: Usa
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Health,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA12HX7NPQ2H5LFN6E7JM9U8PCH
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  • Story Text: Embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned on Friday (May 30) following a meeting with President Barack Obama that came amid a firestorm of outrage over delays in medical care for U.S. veterans.
    Shortly after the private White House session, Obama announced to reporters that he had accepted Shinseki's resignation. The move came after a growing number of Democrats and Republicans in Congress, as well as some veterans' groups, had called for his removal.
    Obama said Sloan Gibson, deputy secretary of the VA, would take the helm at the agency on an acting basis while he looked "diligently" for a new permanent VA secretary House Speaker John Boehner said Shinseki's resignation did not "absolve the president of his responsibility to step in and make things right for our veterans."
    "Business as usual cannot continue," Boehner said.
    The rising number of veterans with combat-related injuries from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars has placed greater demands on the VA.
    The scandal over long delays, which were being concealed by VA officials, in providing medical care to veterans comes just five months before congressional elections in which all 435 House of Representatives seats are up for grabs, along with one-third of the 100-member Senate.
    Inspector general probes are now active at 42 VA locations around the country and have put Obama and his Democrats on the defensive ahead of the November congressional elections. Republicans have attacked the administration over the problems, saying it was an example of mismanagement.
    White House spokesman Jay Carney to step down
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