Two Republican congressmen hoping to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in the Senate focused on reforming the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Thursday. Rubio is currently running for the Republican presidential nomination and is not expected to run for a second Senate term in 2016.
U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., looked at the VA budget as the House Veterans Affairs Committee held a hearing on the subject on Thursday. Miller chairs the committee.
“VA’s continued lack of transparency and refusal to be forthright with Congress is unacceptable,” Miller said earlier this week when he called the hearing. “It was not until I called a hearing in response to warnings from the field about the budget that VA admitted to a $2.6 billion shortfall. Secretary McDonald has testified four times within nearly as many months about VA’s budget, without ever mentioning a shortfall of this magnitude.
“Less than three weeks ago, VA came to Congress asking to remove $534 million from medical care to pay for the largest construction failure in VA history,” Miller added. “Talking around the facts and alluding to the need for budget flexibility without justification or supporting data has become an all-too-familiar practice at VA. I look forward to discussing with Deputy Secretary Gibson how such a massive shortfall could have come as a surprise to the department, and how to put an end to these frequent cost overruns while ensuring veterans receive the care they have earned.”
Miller will announce next week that he is entering the race to replace Rubio, Roll Call reported late on Wednesday.
The Florida Republican has represented the Panhandle since first being elected in a special election back in 2001. Currently chairing the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee, Miller failed in his bid to lead the House Intelligence Committee earlier this year.
Miller joins a potentially crowded Republican field. U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., is already running while U.S. Reps. Curt Clawson, R-Fla., and David Jolly, R-Fla., are considering entering the race. Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera is expected to launch a Senate bid in the middle of next month. Former Attorney General Bill McCollum is weighing a bid and so are businessmen Randy Fine and Todd Wilcox.
DeSantis held his own hearing on Thursday. From his perch as the chairman of the U.S. House National Security Subcommittee, DeSantis looked at how the federal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) handles major leases.
When he announced the hearing last week, DeSantis noted there have been major delays in leases at the VA Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) in St. Augustine, which is in his district, but insisted the problem is far larger.
“When new or replacement VA facilities are held up due to mismanagement and bureaucratic delays, we are doing a disservice to the veterans who rely on the VA for vital health-care services," DeSantis said. “I have seen this on display firsthand in the VA’s difficulties in finding a permanent solution for a replacement CBOC in my district, creating uncertainty for the more than 5,000 veterans it serves. It is my hope that this hearing will shed much-needed light on the VA’s problems so that the VA can successfully provide high-quality and timely services to our nation’s veterans.”
For his part, Rubio gave both Miller and DeSantis shout outs this week. Speaking before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on Wednesday, Rubio pointed toward the VA reform bill he and Miller are trying to get through Congress.
“In the wake of reports detailing how very few people have been held accountable for last year’s scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs, on April 23, 2015, I introduced the ‘Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability Act of 2015,’ which would give the VA secretary new, expanded authorities to remove or demote any VA employee based on poor performance or misconduct,” Rubio said. “This legislation would expand on last year’s VA reform law by giving the VA secretary the authority to terminate any employees for performance-related issues, not just managers. It mirrors legislation filed in the U.S. House of Representatives by House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller.”
During his testimony, Rubio also noted DeSantis’ hearing.
“I also want to recognize that later this week the Subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold its own hearing on reforming the VA,” Rubio said. “It will hear testimony from Florida constituent and St. Johns County Assistant Administrator Jerry Cameron about problems stemming from the VA’s selection and leasing process for new facilities. It represents part of a larger national problem regarding our VA facilities, which are experiencing significant delays and cost overruns that ultimately hurt both veterans and taxpayers.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
