Montana Congressman Steve Daines has been asking for VA Secretary Eric Shenseki to resign since May 7, and on May 30, Shinseki publicly resigned. Here is how Daines responded to the announcement:

“Secretary Shinseki’s resignation is the first step to restoring accountability to the VA system. We’ve asked a lot of our veterans, and owe a great deal to them in return. They simply have not been getting the care they deserve from the current system that is bogged down by bureaucracy and a failure of leadership. While it is a positive sign to see Secretary Shinseki taking responsibility, it is imperative we push ahead in our effort to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs to better serve all of our nation’s veterans and treat them with the respect, dignity and honor that they earned in service to our nation. Senate Democrats must stop blocking bipartisan legislation that the House has passed to reform the VA and end the systemic ‘business as usual’ culture that harms our veterans.”

 

The legislation Daines is referring to is H.R. 4031, also known as the "Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act of 2014." Daines said that the bill will allow the VA secretary to more easily fire and discipline directors that preside over "negligence or mismanagement."

 

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