4 Pinocchios for VA Secretary’s Claim 60 Employees Fired over VA Scandal
Newly appointed Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald told Chuck Todd on Meet the Press Sunday that 60 employees had been fired due to malfeasance surrounding last spring’s VA scandal, in which the agency was caught manipulating patient wait times.
But Washington Post fact checker Michelle Ye Hee Lee found McDonald’s figure significantly inflated.
Noting that it is exceptionally difficult to remove VA executives, Lee nonetheless determined that of the 75 employees disciplined since McDonald’s appointment, few could actually be considered “fired” in the strict definition of the word. Some had retired; some had been recommended for removal; some had been reprimanded. Of them, only a fraction had any involvement in the scandal that caused the resignation of prior secretary Eric Shinseki.
In total, Yee determined only eight employees had been removed due to their involvement in the manipulated wait times.
“Employees are not fired unless they have been removed from their jobs,” Lee wrote, “and as of two days before McDonald went on air, there were eight employees who were removed for manipulating patient wait-time data.”
“Regarding the 60 figure, it is most accurate to say that ‘VA has proposed disciplinary action related to data manipulation or patient care against more than 60 employees nationwide,'” a VA spokesperson told the Post. “This takes into account the full range of accountability actions including admonishments, demotions, reprimands, and termination.”
Yee issued McDonald four Pinocchios, the lowest rating of veracity available. Watch his original remarks below, via NBC News:
[h/t Washington Post]
[Image via screengrab]
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