Missouri Sen. Blunt calls on VA secretary to resign

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican senator is calling for Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald to resign after McDonald compared long wait times at VA health care sites to waiting in line at a Disney amusement park.

Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri said McDonald’s “preposterous statement is right out of ‘Never-never land,’ ” and said the VA leader has shown he cannot ensure that veterans receive health care in a timely manner.

McDonald said Monday that the VA should not use wait times as a measure of success, comparing waits for VA health care to the hours people wait for rides at Disney theme parks. McDonald said a veterans’ health-care experience was more important than the time spend waiting for an appointment.

House Speaker Paul Ryan called McDonald’s comments “disgusting and beyond the pale.”