Senator Did Nothing To Reprimand Staff For Tomah VA Failures, Happy To Hold Others Accountable
Months after it was revealed that Ron Johnson’s staff allowed Tomah VA whistleblower complaints to die in “the equivalent of a congressional black hole,” the vulnerable incumbent Senator is still refusing to accept responsibility or hold his staff accountable. Johnson has made lots of excuses for why he didn’t act on complaints about the Tomah VA, including blaming recess and the lame duck session of Congress, but no one on his staff was fired, demoted or held accountable for their actions in any way.
Now he’s talking a big game about how those responsible for problems ought to be fired at the VA:
“You’ve got to fire bad people,” he said. “If you’ve got bad actors who continue to do harm and they’re not fired, it sends a really bad signal within an organization.”
Seriously? Pot, meet kettle.
“Ron Johnson and the people responsible for abuses at the Tomah VA absolutely must be held accountable, and it’s the height of hypocrisy for Johnson to demand action when he didn’t do a single thing to reprimand his staff members who sat on the whistleblower complains,” said Sadie Weiner, DSCC National Press Secretary. “For months, Ron Johnson has refused to accept any responsibility for letting these tips go unanswered, choosing instead to blame everyone else, and Wisconsin veterans deserve better than a Senator who fails to act on their behalf while shifting blame to everyone else.”
