Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald refused to apologize Tuesday when Andrea Mitchell if he regretted his recent comments comparing wait times at the VA to those at Disney theme parks.
"Are you sorry that you said what you said?" Mitchell asked.
"Look it, as I said, I'm here to improve the veteran experience; I'm here to get more veterans in for care; I'm here to reduce the disability claim backlog," McDonald said. "Wait times are important, but they're not the only measure of veteran experience and that's what veterans are telling us. You know, we've talked to a lot of veterans. It's important and if I was misunderstood or if I said the wrong thing, I'm glad that I have the opportunity to correct it."
Mitchell then asked McDonald about his ability to work with Congress. McDonald had faced criticism for his comments from House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) and others.
"And do you think that you need to communicate to Congress given the criticism that you're now facing from the Speaker of the House?" Mitchell asked.
"We report to Congress frequently. We had a hearing several weeks ago, we have them, in fact, there's a hearing today, so we get many opportunities to communicate with Congress," McDonald said.
The revelations in 2014 of excruciating wait times, falsified records and secret waiting lists resulting in the deaths of dozens of veterans marked one of the Obama administration's worst scandals. It led to then-VA secretary Eric Shinseki resigning and widespread calls for reform to the department.