Posted on 02/12/2015 7:13:02 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Tensions ran high when Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald was grilled about mismanagement within the VA system during a House hearing Wednesday – a major veterans group is demanding an apology.
Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., a 22-year Marine Corps veteran, who saw combat in Iraq in the 1990s then returned to the country on active service in 2006, was questioning McDonald about Denver’s failed VA hospital construction project and accusing him of glossing over problems within the system when things got testy.
After citing cost overrun and scheduling problems with a VA hospital construction in Denver, Coffman said it was a symbol of the VA’s mismanagement.
“This is a department mired in bureaucratic incompetence and corruption,” he said.
Not liking the hot-seat, McDonald made an attempt at shifting the blame.
“You’ve been here longer than I have,” McDonald said. “If there’s a problem in Denver, I think you own it more than I do.”
Coffman, the only member of Congress to have served in both Iraq wars, wasn’t outwardly fazed by the personal jab.
Instead, he pressed for accountability over the construction project that’s been burdened with substantial time and budget miscalculations, and suggested that the VA get out of the construction businesses.
That’s when McDonald – a West Point graduate and former Army captain – got really defensive.
“I’ve run a large company, sir,” he said. “What have you done?”
Coffman didn’t respond to the insulting question at the hearing, but his spokesman, Tyler Sandberg, issued a statement afterward:
“The secretary may think that making personal attacks against Rep. Coffman makes for good sound bites on TV but it’s a diversion from what should be his core task: changing the culture within the VA,” Sandberg said.
Concerned Veterans for America wants more than that.
Pete Hegseth, the CEO of the group said McDonald was “disrespectful” of Coffman and demanded an apology from McDonald, according to the Blaze.
“While it isn’t exactly rare to see a cabinet-level officer face tough questions while testifying before Congress, the disrespectful, combative and accusatory tone Secretary McDonald took with Rep. Coffman today was out of line, inexcusable and in my view requires a formal apology,” Hegseth said in a statement.
I disagree; my VA clinic is top notch, as is the last one I was in.
There are always going to be pockets of incompetence in any government entity.
I also like the camaraderie with the fellow older vets I see at the clinic.
It isn't perfect, but don't get rid of it.
McDonald is finding out that he’s going to have to change the entire culture of the VA, and he’s not equipped to do that.
I work for the VA.
I also worked for P&G and I know Bob McDonald.
He is a good man who will fix this mess but it takes time, and he is fighting bureaucracy and unions and a large agency stuck in a government mindset instead of a medical center one.
He needs the time to learn and affect change, and that is not done overnight.
Thanks. You info is worth a thousand of those “incompetent Obama boob” comments.
He should have replied, you didn’t build that.
>>>He is a good man who will fix this mess but it takes time, and he is fighting bureaucracy and unions and a large agency stuck in a government mindset instead of a medical center one. He needs the time to learn and affect change, and that is not done overnight<<<
So, why didn’t Mr. McDonald reply to the Congressman saying what you just said instead of hurling Personal Insults?
If he’s competent and honest, then he’s certainly the exception and NOT the rule as far as appointees go.
They always seem to be people placed in cushy spots to repay them for favors or to repay their friends for favors.
Overseeing the production of haircare products, antacids and dog food isn't quite the same as overseeing a healthcare operation. people don't die from lack of shampoo!
That comment is unprofessional to say the least. It's a lie more than anything else because the congressman's role is one of distant oversight, and not just of the VA. McDonald's sole focus is the VA.
McDonald disgraced himself by saying this.
Then he compounds it by the provocative, "What have you done?", which is just embarrassing.
Amazing that someone whose leadership and etiquette were cultivated, first at the USMA (the ne plus ultra of leadership and decorum), then at P & G (a super-traditional uptight corporate environment, no?), would still pop off to the congressman like a surly teen-ager.
Yeah, he’s just a West Point grad, Army Ranger, Republican, former CEO of Procter and Gamble, and been in charge of the VA for 6 months. Clearly he’s incompetent. Give me a break. He should have told the Congressman to go F himself.
He’s run a company, ooh, what has this 22 year veteran done?
Why didn’t the Congressman have the common sense to realize that McDonald is new?
Totally agree.
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