With only days left before the start of Congress’s five-week summer vacation, House and Senate negotiators have reached a tentative deal to bolster spending by the Department of Veterans Affairs to address many of the scandalous conditions that contributed to the deaths of dozens of veterans, according to media reports.
For a while, it looked as if the notorious “do nothing” Congress would depart this week without resolving major differences between Republicans and Democrats over emergency funding levels for the beleaguered VA, as well as responding to other major problems including the humanitarian immigration crisis along the Southwest border.
Related: Congress Eyes 5-Week Vacation While Urgent Issues Fester
With pressure mounting from veterans’ advocacy groups and rank-and-file lawmakers, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL), the chairs of the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees, set aside their differences and carved out a compromise over the weekend that will be announced on Monday afternoon.
According to CQ Roll Call, Sanders and Miller agreed to provide the VA with a total of $15 billion of “emergency mandatory” spending as part of an effort to beef up medical treatment at VA hospitals and medical centers and eliminate the long waiting lines.
Those funds would include $10 billion for a new private care option that would allow veterans who are facing long waiting periods or who live more than 40 miles away from a VA facility to turn to a private provider or facility that accepts Medicare patients.
Related: New Scandal at VA: Workers Hid and Shredded Benefits Claims
There would be another $5 billion for upgrading the VA medical system, such as hiring more doctors and nurses and improving the conditions of the medical facilities, according to CQ Roll Call.
Sanders and Miller are expected to formally unveil their compromise this afternoon and push it through Congress on an expedited basis before lawmakers adjourn for the summer, according to media reports.
These developments come as the Senate is preparing to confirm President Obama’s nomination of former Proctor & Gamble CEO Robert McDonald as the new VA secretary.
Congress vowed to take strong action following the disclosure by CNN that dozens of veterans had died while waiting sometimes months to see a doctor and that some VA officials had hidden the fact of long waiting lists to protect their promotions and bonuses. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned on May 30 at the height of the scandal.
Related: The VA Scandal: What You Never Knew
Things looked bleak last week after Sanders and Miller publicly feuded over how much should be spent to ameliorate the crisis, and Sanders accused his Republican counterpart of bad faith in negotiating an agreement.
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), a leading figure on defense and veterans issues, said last week that he would be “utterly embarrassed if we leave without doing the VA bill,” The Washington Post noted today. And more than 110 House members co-signed a letter demanding that House and Senate leaders delay the vacation if necessary to complete work on the measure.
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