President Barack Obama has announced that Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has resigned .
The news comes as no surprise following days of criticisms from both sides of the political spectrum regarding the handling of veterans at several VA hospitals around the country.
Shinseki, who is a retired four-star general, came under heavy scrutiny when it became apparent that at least 40 veterans had died at the Phoenix, Arizona VA facility while awaiting medical care for their conditions in secret lists, which were created to cover up for the extensive amount of time they waited for an appointment.
As the scandal grew larger and the VA system became the focus of the media, calls for Eric Shinseki’s resignation became louder from Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill.
#BREAKING : Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki resigns http://t.co/9C7HRdpbOg pic.twitter.com/M9kpbndt3w
— Mashable (@mashable) May 30, 2014
President Obama announces that VA Secretary Eric Shinseki will step down over hospital scandal – live video http://t.co/c41bckzfSk
— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) May 30, 2014
On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney attempted to appease reporters questions about the growing VA scandal and stated that President Obama was ordering an internal review of the situation at VA facilities across the country.
The resignation of Secretary Eric Shinseki is coming too late for thousands of veterans who have been let down by the VA.
— Shelley Moore Capito (@RepShelley) May 30, 2014
On Friday, President Obama announced that VA Secretary Eric Shinseki had tendered his resignation as he saw his own leadership at the VA as a “distraction” from solving the department’s issues.
The President named Sloan Gibson as acting secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs in place of Eric Shinseki, effective immediately.
Up until now Obama had stopped short of calling for Eric Shinseki to resign. The President stood by him publicly last week saying “nobody cares more about our veterans than Eric Shinseki.”
Secretary Shinseki was appointed in 2008 when Obama took office after retiring from his post as Army chief of staff.
BREAKING UPDATE: Pres. Obama accepts resignation of VA secretary: http://t.co/3Xw310SjP4 – @ABCPolitics pic.twitter.com/UAID2sHcms
— ABC News (@ABC) May 30, 2014
Eric Shinseki had a distinguished military career, attending West Point and weeks later being deployed to Vietnam, where he earned two Purple Hearts. Stay tuned to The Inquisitr for more updates on this breaking development.
[Image via Wikimedia Commons ]
