By Ben Kesling
The Senate confirmed Robert McDonald to head the Department of
Veterans Affairs on Tuesday, one day after congressional leaders
cobbled together a $17 billion funding bill to help reform the
agency and expand care.
Mr. McDonald will take over as head of the VA after little
debate or opposition in the Senate. Last week, he faced a friendly
hearing before the Committee on Veterans' Affairs where he fielded
few questions and was lauded by many on the panel.
Mr. McDonald, 61 years old, is a graduate of the U.S. Military
Academy. He left the Army as a captain before beginning a 33-year
career at Procter & Gamble Co., culminating in the role of CEO
from 2009 to 2011.
He takes over from Sloan Gibson, who has been acting secretary
since the resignation of Eric Shinseki following revelations that
VA employees across the nation had been falsifying reports of
patient wait times. Reports from the VA's independent inspector
general and the VA itself helped trigger resignations of a handful
of other top VA officials. Some of these investigations are
ongoing.
"We are at a very important moment in terms of the Veterans
Administration," said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) chairman of the
Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs in a speech before the vote.
"We have new leadership...we have a significant piece of
legislation."
That legislation, which is expected to be voted on by Congress
later this week, would provide the VA with emergency funding
allowing veterans facing long wait times to seek treatment from
non-VA doctors. It would also provide funding for the VA to lease
more than two dozen medical facilities and give Mr. McDonald
greater ability to fire underperforming department executives.
"Secretary McDonald is inheriting a VA in crisis, but he also
inherits a VA that is worth saving," said John Straud, commander of
the Veterans of Foreign Wars, one of the nation's largest veterans
advocacy groups. "The VFW looks forward to working with him and his
team as they fix what's broken."
Write to Ben Kesling at benjamin.kesling@wsj.com
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