Feb. 8, 2019
WASHINGTON — The new Democratic leadership of the House Veterans’ Affairs
Committee said Friday that it would investigate the influence exerted by three members of President Trump’s Florida
beach club on the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The move was viewed as an early, and powerful, indication that the
committee, which has always been known as among the most bipartisan on Capitol
Hill, could adopt a harder edge under the new Congress as empowered Democrats
move to scrutinize the administration.
The investigation was announced in a letter to Robert Wilkie,
the secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, from Representative Mark
Takano, Democrat of California, the new chairman of the committee. Mr. Takano
requested documents and “information about alleged improper influence” of the
members, Isaac Perlmutter, Bruce Moskowitz and Marc Sherman, “over policy and
personnel decisions of the Department of Veterans Affairs.”
Mr. Takano said the three men exerted inappropriate influence over
procurement at the sprawling department.
Mr. Perlmutter is the former chief executive of Marvel Entertainment, Mr.
Sherman is a lawyer and Dr. Moskowitz is a doctor. The three do not possess
special expertise in veterans health care issues, but were reported to be
influential over Trump administration policy, including its plans to push the department’s health care
system toward private providers. The three are frequently at Mar-a-Lago, Mr.
Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Fla.
According to a report last year by the nonprofit investigative news
organization ProPublica, the three pressured Mr. Trump’s first
veterans secretary, David J. Shulkin, then peppered him with demands before
ultimately working with personnel in the department to oust him. The group also
pushed — in most cases, unsuccessfully — for certain vendors to manage health
care records, and had a direct line to the president.
“I think most Americans would agree that wealthy private citizens should
not be having back-channel influence” on veterans services, Mr. Takano said in
an interview Friday. He said that he could use his subpoena power as a “last
resort” if the requested documents were not relinquished. “This doesn’t have to
be a drama,” he said. “It is a legitimate request.”
The three men released a joint statement in response to the committee
action.
“We were asked by the president and, repeatedly, by the former secretary
and his senior staff to assist the V.A. in enhancing the level of service it
provides to our veterans,” the statement said. “Our primary focus was to
introduce the V.A. to experts in various areas where V.A. staff asked for our
help. We do not regret trying to do our small part, and even given the unjust
and unrelenting criticism we have faced, each of us would step in to help our
veterans again.”
A spokesman for the new veterans secretary said he rebuffed outside
pressure of the kind ascribed to the three men.
“Although his predecessors may have done things differently, Secretary
Wilkie has been clear about how he does business,” the spokesman, Curt Cashour,
said in an email. “No one from outside the administration dictates V.A.
policies or decisions — that’s up to Secretary Wilkie and President Trump.
Period.”
People who speak regularly with Mr. Wilkie say he has moved to keep the
three men at arm’s length since taking over the department, but it is unclear
what influence they may continue to have over Mr. Trump. Mr. Takano’s interest
appeared to be focused on events predating Mr. Wilkie’s arrival at the
department.
This week, though, eight high-ranking Republicans and Democrats wrote a letter to Mr. Wilkie
imploring him to “be more open, transparent, complete and candid when engaging
with Congress in the critical implementation stages of these programs.”
But Republicans, who lost their majority in the House in midterm elections
last year, were hoping that the committee would continue to focus on bipartisan legislation
and oversight of the agency on issues they agree need attention, like how it
managed the new G.I. Bill and changes to the health care system.
“That’s a waste of time,” Representative Phil Roe of Tennessee, the
highest-ranking Republican on the committee, said in an interview last week
about the group. “If they go big on that, it won’t be good.”
Some Democrats said they were also concerned that the committee might lean
too far into their investigative functions for a panel with extensive
responsibilities.
“We’ve got to do our oversight,” said Representative Peter Welch, Democrat
of Vermont. “But what we have to be careful of is over-reading our victory. I
would recommend coming out of the gate with something that’s good for
veterans.”
The House on Friday passed a child care bill to help families of veterans.
A version of this article appears in print on Feb. 8, 2019, on Page A15 of
the New York edition with the headline: Democrats To Investigate Outside Clout
At the V.A..
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/08/us/politics/house-democrats-veterans-mar-a-lago.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202019-02-11%20Healthcare%20Dive%20%5Bissue:19356%5D&utm_term=Healthcare%20Dive
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