Watch the VA IG/Congress Battle Tomorrow
U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo. Ed Andrieski/AP File Photo
By
Bob Brewin
Again, in the congressional spotlight, look for the IG to stand firm.
The House Veterans Affairs Committee plans a hearing tomorrow, and it could be a doozy. In focus will be a report from the Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general that says no deaths resulted from extensive wait times and schedule manipulation at the VA hospital in Phoenix.
The Washington Examiner questioned whether the IG had softened the results of that report at the request of VA officials in a Sept. 4 article and quoted congressman Mike Coffman, who is the chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, as saying, “The American people deserve to know the truth.”
Richard Griffin, the acting IG, fired back the next day and said the IG answers to nothing but the truth.
“Our job is to speak the truth to power, and our record reflects that is exactly what we have always done,” he said.
Based on the above, I have a feeling tomorrow’s hearing will be at the best icily polite and beyond contentious at its worst.
The hearing starts at noon EDT in room 334 in the Cannon House Office Building and will be streamed live from a link on the committee Web page.
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