WASHINGTON: The US Senate unanimously confirmed a former army officer and corporate leader as secretary of veterans affairs yesterday, as lawmakers acknowledged he faces an uphill battle to reform the scandal-plagued department.
Lawmakers closed ranks, 97-0, to approve former Procter & Gamble chief executive Robert McDonald as head of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
They were keen to fill the void after Eric Shinseki resigned amid a string of crises over failures in health care for America’s retired warriors. In May an inspector general found that 1,700 veterans in the Phoenix area alone had been kept off the main waiting list for primary care. Up to 40 patients are said to have died while waiting for treatment.
An internal review concluded that delays and other management failures in care were systemic and nationwide. Democratic Senator Patty Murray warned that McDonald faces “a truly monumental task” of reforming the agency responsible for treating millions of veterans.
“It will be an uphill battle as we work to eliminate homelessness and the claims backlog,” Murray added.
Senate Republican Richard Shelby said McDonald’s confirmation should bring “renewed commitment, energy and acumen to address the system problems that we all know exist.”
AFP
