--- title: Shinseki Apologizes for VA Scandal description: Eric Shinseki, the Veterans Administration chief and a retired four-star general, testified on Capitol Hill about the Veterans Administration's 'secret' wait-list mess, but said very little about accusations that lengthy wait times led to preventable deaths canonical: https://time.com/100830/shinseki-va-hearing/ author: Alex Altman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-15T15:12:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:01:19.282Z article:section: Politics og:title: Shinseki Apologizes for VA Scandal og:description: Eric Shinseki, the Veterans Administration chief and a retired four-star general, testified on Capitol Hill about the Veterans Administration's 'secret' wait-list mess, but said very little about accusations that lengthy wait times led to preventable deaths og:url: https://time.com/100830/shinseki-va-hearing/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05f9173319637719/69868f99810bbbff65c919bf/eric-shineski-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2832 og:image:height: 1593 og:image:alt: Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 15, 2014, before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing to examine the state of Veterans Affairs health care. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Shinseki Apologizes for VA Scandal twitter:description: Eric Shinseki, the Veterans Administration chief and a retired four-star general, testified on Capitol Hill about the Veterans Administration's 'secret' wait-list mess, but said very little about accusations that lengthy wait times led to preventable deaths twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05f9173319637719/69868f99810bbbff65c919bf/eric-shineski-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Shinseki: VA Allegations Make Me 'Mad As Hell' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=eee1c11c-c548-4bb3-a31d-bc678e2041b3&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Eric Shinseki [Watch (HLS stream): Eric Shinseki](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8gI5mtew.m3u8) (1:25)  _Published 2014-05-15. Department of Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki gets grilled on capital hill, but says little in response._  by [Alex Altman](https://time.com/author/alex-altman/)  ## Alex Altman Altman is the executive features editor and deputy Washington bureau chief at TIME. May 15, 2014 3:12 PM UTC  Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 15, 2014, before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing to examine the state of Veterans Affairs health care. Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 15, 2014, before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing to examine the state of Veterans Affairs health care. Cliff Owen—AP  by [Alex Altman](https://time.com/author/alex-altman/)  ## Alex Altman Altman is the executive features editor and deputy Washington bureau chief at TIME. May 15, 2014 3:12 PM UTC Eric Shinseki, the embattled Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, pledged during a Senate hearing Thursday to investigate allegations that dozens of service members died while awaiting medical treatment in the U.S. “Any allegation about any adverse incident like this makes me mad as hell. I could use stronger language here, Mr. Chairman, but in deference to the committee, I won’t,” Shinseki told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee in Washington. Shinseki has been under mounting pressure in the wake of a [report](http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/23/health/veterans-dying-health-care-delays/index.html) that at least 40 veterans had died while awaiting appointments at a VA hospital in Phoenix. The report, which alleged that local department officials maintained a secret list to hide lengthy wait times that led to preventable deaths, is part of a pattern of problems for the beleaguered agency, which serves more than 200,000 veterans each day. Shinseki said little about the allegations, but promised to act “if any of these allegations are true, with regard to scheduling in Phoenix or elsewhere.” The scandal has shaken the White House, where President Barack Obama has directed Shinseki, a retired Army general who has led the VA since 2009, to undertake a review of VA practices. Obama has also tapped top aide Rob Nabors to lead an Administration probe into the allegations of misconduct within the department. “While we get to the bottom of what happened in Phoenix, it’s clear the VA needs to do more to ensure quality care for our veterans,” Obama said in a statement. Democrats and Republicans alike battered Shinseki for the department’s struggles on his watch. “Clearly this problem has gone on for far too long,” said Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington. “It is unfortunate that these leadership failures have dramatically shaken many veterans’ confidence in the system. Secretary Shinseki, I continue to believe that you take this seriously and want to do the right thing. But we have come to the point where we need more than good intentions.” As Congressional Republicans demand Shinseki’s resignation, some senators cautioned angry observers to wait for the results of the investigation. “What happened in Phoenix?” said Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who chairs the Senate panel overseeing the VA. “Well, the truth is we don’t know. But we are going to find out.” ## Transcript It's been more than a month, since allegations that some 40 veterans died while waiting for care at the Phoenix VA were first made public. To date, the Obama administration has failed to respond in an effective manner. This has created, in our veterans community, a crisis of confidence toward the VA. The very agency that was established to care for them. Hospital errors that cause death are now the third leading cause of death in America behind cancer and heart disease. What does that mean? Have deaths been reported through medical errors in the VA? The answer is yes. And every one of those deaths is a shame, and something that we've got to address. But it's not just the VA. Third leading cause of death in America are medical errors in hospitals. That's an issue we have to address. Any allegation, any adverse incident like this, makes me as, makes me mad as hell. I could use stronger language sure, Mister Chairman, but in deference to the committee I won't. But at the same time it also saddens me, because I understand that out of those adverse events, a veteran and a veteran's family is dealing, in the aftermath, and I always try to put myself in their shoes. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/100830/shinseki-va-hearing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/100830/shinseki-va-hearing/"},"headline":"Shinseki: VA Allegations Make Me 'Mad As Hell'","datePublished":"2014-05-15T15:12:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:01:19.282Z","description":"Eric Shinseki, the Veterans Administration chief and a retired four-star general, testified on Capitol Hill about the Veterans Administration's 'secret' wait-list mess, but said very little about accusations that lengthy wait times led to preventable deaths","url":"https://time.com/100830/shinseki-va-hearing/","keywords":["Military","Veterans Affairs"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05f9173319637719/69868f99810bbbff65c919bf/eric-shineski-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Altman","jobTitle":"Altman is the executive features editor and deputy Washington bureau chief at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/alex-altman/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05f9173319637719/69868f99810bbbff65c919bf/eric-shineski-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 15, 2014, before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing to examine the state of Veterans Affairs health care.","caption":"Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 15, 2014, before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing to examine the state of Veterans Affairs health care.","creditText":"Cliff Owen—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/military/","name":"Military"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/100830/shinseki-va-hearing/","name":"Shinseki: VA Allegations Make Me 'Mad As Hell'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Eric Shinseki","description":"Department of Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki gets grilled on capital hill, but says little in response.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/8gI5mtew/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-05-15T19:30:10.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8gI5mtew.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/100830/shinseki-va-hearing/","duration":"PT1M25S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/100830/shinseki-va-hearing/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```