Veterans Affairs official resigns amid scandal…..but he was already scheduled to retire

 In an attempt to make it appear as if the Department of Veterans Affairs is holding people accountable for the growing scandal which is engulfing the department, today VA Secretary Eric Shinseki announced the resignation of Under Secretary for Health Affairs Robert Petzel.

  Here is what Mister Shinseki had to say:

“Today, I accepted the resignation of Dr. Robert Petzel, Under Secretary for Health in the Department of Veterans Affairs,” Shinseki said in a statement. ”As we know from the Veteran community, most Veterans are satisfied with the quality of their VA health care, but we must do more to improve timely access to that care.”

  There is just one small problem with this; Mister Petzel had already announced he was going to retire in 2014 and his replacement had already been chosen.

“Following a 40-year career serving Veterans as a VA physician, teacher, and administrator, Dr. Robert A. Petzel, will retire in 2014 as planned, following a four-year tenure as Under Secretary for Health,” according to a Sept. 20, 2013 VA press release obtained by The Daily Caller.

President Obama announced his intent to nominate Jeffrey A. Murawsky as Petzel’s replacement in a May 1, 2014 White House press release.

  This resignation is nothing but a scam; more like a reclassification of his planned retirement, albeit earlier than he planned, designed to placate the growing disgruntlement among veterans and the American people who support them.

  This was not lost on Representative Jeff Miller, who sits on the Veterans Affairs Committee, here is what he had to say:

“Today’s announcement from VA regarding Undersecretary for Health Robert Petzel’s ‘resignation’ is the pinnacle of disingenuous political doublespeak,” Miller said in a statement.

“Petzel was already scheduled to retire in 2014 and President Obama has already announced his intention to nominate Petzel’s replacement, so characterizing this as a ‘resignation’ just doesn’t pass the smell test,” Miller said. “Desperate to get ahead of a delays in care crisis that is growing by the day, yet apparently unwilling to take substantive actions to hold any of its leaders accountable for negligence that harms veterans, VA has resorted to what it does best: splitting semantic hairs to create the illusion of accountability and progress. After yesterday’s out-of-touch performance from Sec. Shinseki, I was disappointed. Today, I am even more disillusioned.”

  If there is even s smidgen of justice leaving the office earlier than he planned will cost Robert Petzel at least a portion of his retirement benefits, however Lois Lerner also resigned in disgrace but was able to hang on long enough to ensure her retirement benefits remained intact so I am not hopeful.