Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) called on President Obama to "step up to the plate" on the VA scandal Monday on Fox News. "It's nice that the president is 'mad as hell,' but why didn't he have the kind of attention applied to this as he did to the Obamacare website? McConnell asked. President Obama has thus far not publicly addressed revelations the VA created secret wait list to falsify wait times.
McConnell also said Obama should not politicize the massive bureaucratic failures at the VA and blame them on Congress or Republicans. "He's the CEO of the country, the VA reports to him," McConnell said.
The Senate Minority Leader also dismissed the possible excuse that officials were only made aware of the VA's issues when the story broke this April. "We've known for years that the VA backlog was enormous. I had the Secretary of Veterans Administration in my office a year and a half ago on the same subject and other members have, as well. This has not to been a secret the VA was not doing right by our veterans," he said.
When asked by host Megyn Kelly if Secretary of the VA Eric Shinseki should resign, McConnell did not hesitate. "It's a management problem, not a money problem. So it's obvious the management team needs to be changed in order to address this problem."