The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs convened a hearing this week on former Procter & Gamble CEO Robert McDonald’s nomination to serve as secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said that if McDonald is confirmed he must foster a new culture throughout the VA and embrace the findings of ongoing investigations to implement reforms, according to a press release.
“Employees at all levels must be willing to proactively identify and address problems in every corner of this vast department,” Burr said. “We need a culture where warning signs will not be ignored and twisting performance metrics to make it appear that veterans are being well served will not be tolerated. This paradigm shift is needed not only on the healthcare side of VA, but on the benefits side as well.”
The VA Office of Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office recently highlighted issues with the Veterans Benefits Administration. A backlog of disability claims and hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars being improperly paid out are among those issues, Burr said.
“(McDonald’s) charge moving forward will be to ensure that this entire department – from top to bottom – is re-focused on providing our nation’s veterans with the high-quality service they have earned and they deserve,” Burr said. “I look forward to working with (McDonald) to help VA live up to the expectations of veterans and of a nation grateful for their service.”
McDonald graduated from the U.S. Military Academy and served in the Army before he pursued a career in business. He served as CEO of Procter & Gamble from 2009 to 2011, the Wall Street Journal reports.