Mary K. Talbot
One week ago, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Denis McDonough as the 11th Secretary of Veterans Affairs by a resounding margin with a vote of 87 to 7.
After taking office the next day, McDonough issued a public statement which began by acknowledging that this appointment was the “honor of my lifetime.”
McDonough has a long history of public service. His resumé includes leadership and policy-making positions in the U.S. House of Representatives before he moved to the Obama administration where he served in multiple roles, including Principal Deputy National Security Adviser and, ultimately, White House Chief of Staff.
McDonough took his oath on the same day as the start of the second impeachment trial of former President Donald J. Trump. In his remarks, McDonough said, “At this moment when our country must come together, caring for you — our country’s veterans and your families — is a mission that can unite us all.”
Vowing to “fight like hell for veterans,” McDonough promised to “Do everything in our power to help veterans get through this pandemic; help them build civilian lives through education and jobs worthy of their skills and service; ensure that VA welcomes all veterans, including women, veterans of color and LGBTQ veterans; work to eliminate veterans’ homelessness and reduce suicide; and keep faith with their families and caregivers.”
Secretary McDonough has his work cut out for him. There are 217,519 documented cases of COVID-19 and 9,800 deaths to date of veterans enrolled in the VA Healthcare System. More than 17 veterans take their lives each day and 37,085 veterans experience homelessness on a single night.
Improving consumer confidence and increasing usage of preventative care offered by the VA Healthcare System will be critical to McDonough’s success. The Department of Veterans Affairs is the nation’s largest health-care provider with a $240-billion annual budget.
Sen. Jack Reed previously worked with McDonough and believes he is up to the task. “Denis is a principled, professional patriot,” said Reed in a December statement. “McDonough will be a tremendous advocate for our veterans. He will honor them through action and is someone who can find new, innovative strategies and cost-effective solutions to providing world-class care and support for our veterans.”
As the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Denis McDonough is only the second person to fill that position without having served in the military — a fact that he acknowledged in his testimony before members of the committee. “It is true that I am not a veteran. But in my years of my public service, I have had a privilege afforded to relatively few Americans: I’ve seen up close — and been deeply moved by — the excellence, talents and dedication of our men and women in uniform.
“When visiting our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen on our bases in Afghanistan and Iraq, I have witnessed the heavy burdens of long deployments away from their families.
“Beside their hospital beds when they come home, I’ve seen their resilience in the face of wounds — visible and invisible — that can last a lifetime. Standing there at Dover when our fallen heroes come home one final time, I’ve seen the unimaginable grief of military families, to whom we owe a debt that can never be repaid and whom we stand by forever.”
Advocacy for veterans and their families is part of the fabric of the McDonough household. Secretary McDonough’s wife, Kari, is the co-founder and president of Vets’ Community Connections, a nonprofit organization based in San Diego, California that is dedicated to assisting “veterans, military and their families in successfully integrating into their community by expanding their local networks and involving all parts of the community,” according to the organization’s website.
McDonough was previously a professor of the…
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