Senate

Cruz: VA secretary ‘should resign’

by Jordain Carney

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is calling for Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald to step down after he compared VA clinic wait times to lines at Disneyland.  

“There can be no doubt there is a deep corruption within the VA, and we should not rest until it is rooted out, and our heroes receive the care that they earned. Secretary McDonald’s recent comments make clear that he is not the man to ensure that happens, and as a result, he should resign,” Cruz said in a statement Wednesday. 
 
{mosads}His comments are the latest sign of a growing backlash over remarks McDonald made while speaking to reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast on Monday.
 
McDonald said the important part of a veteran’s medical experience is not how long he or she waits for care but how effective that care was.

“When you go to Disney, do they measure the number of hours you wait in line?” he asked at the time. “What’s important is what’s your satisfaction with the experience.”

GOP lawmakers have called the remarks offensive and demanded that he apologize. Republican Sens. Roy Blunt (Mo.), Joni Ernst (Iowa) and David Vitter (La.) are also calling on him to step down.

McDonald got a step closer to apologizing on Tuesday afternoon, saying that he “deeply” regrets if veterans were offended by his comments. 

“If my comments Monday led any veterans to believe that I, or the dedicated workforce I am privileged to lead, don’t take that noble mission seriously, I deeply regret that,” he said. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”

But his remarks have done little to stem the growing criticism.
 
Cruz said that the remarks “show a fundamental lack of respect” for veterans.  

“For Secretary McDonald to compare the long wait periods, during which far too many of our nation’s finest passed away, to the lines at Disney is simply unacceptable,” the Texan said. 

The VA has been constantly under scrutiny since 2014 when allegations surfaced that dozens of offices across the country were manipulating data to downplay how long veterans waited for an appointment. 

The scandal led to then-Secretary Eric Shinseki resigning. 

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