Veterans Affairs Secretary Boots Members Of Congress From Offices In VA Hospitals
Scretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie has told several members of Congress that he's evicting them from offices they've been using in VA hospitals. The House members use the offices to meet with vets and discuss everything from their eligibility for benefits to the quality of the care they receive.
The VA says it wants the spaces back for clinical uses, but one of the lawmakers, Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., thinks it's personal. In April Mast questioned VA Secretary Robert Wilkie over security issues and suicides at the West Palm Beach hospital. At the hearing, Mast pressed Wilkie on when he would visit. "I will say as soon as possible," Wilkie said, but Mast replied: "I was a bomb technician," the congressman says. "We used to always use vague terms like that so people would never know exactly when we would get on the ground. I would like a more specific answer."
Last year, he became the first congressman to open an office inside a VA facility, the VA Medical Center in West Palm Beach. Five other members of Congress, all Florida Democrats, followed suit.
Last month, they received a letter from the VA telling them that their time was up and they would have to move out by the end of the year. In a letter to Mast, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said the VA needs the offices for clinical space. Mast's office, he says, will be used for a smoking cessation program.
https://www.npr.org/2019/09/25/763996045/veterans-affairs-secretary-boots-members-of-congress-from-offices-in-va-hospital
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