Carney to step down as White House press secretary

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney is stepping down, ending a lengthy term in what is considered one of Washington’s toughest jobs.

Carney has served as President Obama’s lead spokesman since 2011. The president interrupted Carney’s daily press briefing on Friday to announce his departure, calling him one of his “closest friends” and a trusted adviser.

Noting Carney’s background as a reporter, Obama said: “I actually think he will miss hanging out with all of you.”

Obama said he has chosen Carney’s deputy, Josh Earnest, to replace him.

“Today the flak jacket is officially passed to a new generation,” Obama joked, announcing Earnest as Carney’s successor.

The announcement, which followed speculation in the media that Carney was preparing to leave this year, came on a tumultuous day in Washington. Hours earlier, Obama announced that he had accepted Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki’s resignation amid the scandal at that agency over veterans’ health care.

Carney, as the de facto voice of the White House, has dealt with a barrage of scandals since the start of Obama’s second term. He has defended Obama from the briefing room podium on everything from the botched launch of HealthCare.gov to the VA scandal to lingering questions about the Benghazi terror attack.

Obama said Carney plans to take the summer off before getting a new job, indicating the press secretary role has been a “strain” on his family.

“It’s been a privilege,” Carney said of his job after the president left, before continuing with the daily briefing.

Carney said the transition will be complete around mid-June, but that Earnest will take his place traveling next week on a trip that Obama has scheduled to Europe.

Carney brought rare but practical experience to the job as a former reporter who once covered the White House for Time magazine. He left journalism to join the White House as communications director for Vice President Joe Biden, and subsequently moved over to serve as Obama’s press secretary in 2011.

The affable Earnest is well-liked within the White House press corps, and reporters applauded the announcement.

“As you know, his name describes his demeanor,” Obama said. “Josh is an earnest guy and you can’t find just a nicer individual even outside of Washington.”

Carney said he’s made no decision yet on his next step, but is excited about some of the possibilities he’s begun to explore. He ruled out rumors that he would serve as ambassador to Russia, after having covered the collapse of the Soviet Empire for Time, saying his wife and two children wouldn’t welcome such a move.

[H/T Fox News]

Shinseki resigns over growing VA scandal

President Obama announced Friday that embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki would take the fall for the rapidly growing scandal over veterans’ health care, accepting his resignation under pressure from members of both parties.

The president announced that Shinseki would resign after they met at the White House and he received an update on an internal review of the problems at the VA. The review showed the problems were not limited to just a few facilities, Obama said, adding: “It’s totally unacceptable. Our veterans deserve the best.”

On the heels of those and other findings, Obama said, “Secretary Shinseki offered me his own resignation — with considerable regret, I accepted.”

He said Shinseki told him he did not want to be a distraction. “I agree,” Obama said. “We don’t have time for distractions. We need to fix the problem.”

The president had faced mounting calls from members of both parties to remove Shinseki; those calls accelerated after a damning inspector general report on Wednesday. Shinseki suffered another blow on Friday when Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a former top VA official, called for her former boss’ resignation.

Shinseki’s departure is likely to calm the political storm, but only briefly. Congressional critics of VA leadership voiced support for the decision on Friday, but urged the administration to quickly get to the root of the problems with VA workers lying about patient wait times.

“VA’s problems are deadly serious, and whomever the next secretary may be, they will receive no grace period from America’s veterans, American taxpayers and Congress,” Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said in a statement.

House Speaker John Boehner said the resignation “does not absolve the president.” The resignation also has not muted calls for the Justice Department to launch a criminal probe.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said in a joint statement that they would continue to push a bill providing resources for such a probe. “This scandal has dragged on over a decade. We believe the Department of Justice should begin investigations right away,” they said.

The president, who for weeks stood by Shinseki as the allegations of wrongdoing mounted, said it was Shinseki’s own judgment that he’d be a distraction that changed his mind. The president said Sloan Gibson, deputy VA secretary, would be named acting VA secretary while the administration seeks a permanent replacement.

In his farewell message to staff, Shinseki touted “significant and lasting progress in expanding access” for veterans over the last several years, while acknowledging “there is more work to be done.”

Earlier Friday morning, Shinseki publicly apologized for the failures in the VA system. Responding to an interim inspector general report which found “systemic” problems with clinics misrepresenting patient wait times, Shinseki also announced he would oust senior leaders at the Phoenix VA, where allegations of improper scheduling practices first surfaced.

Shinseki, speaking to advocates for homeless veterans, said he initially believed the problems were “limited and isolated.”

“I no longer believe that. It is systemic,” Shinseki said. “I will not defend it, because it is indefensible.”

Even before his meeting with the president, the secretary’s tone shifted dramatically compared with his testimony before a congressional committee earlier this month, when he continued to defend the VA system. On Friday, citing the IG report, he lamented a “totally unacceptable lack of integrity” at numerous VA facilities — where reviews have found workers were manipulating wait times to make their internal figures look good.

Shinseki said the “lack of integrity” is something he has “rarely encountered.” He announced several steps to address the situation, including directing that patient wait times no longer be used as a measure of success in employee evaluations.

The internal audit reviewed by Obama on Friday outlined additional problems, including findings that VA staff were pressured to use improper practices. The report said in some cases, “pressures were placed on schedulers to utilize inappropriate practices in order to make Waiting Times appear more favorable.”

The report said the practices were “pervasive” enough to “require VA re-examine its entire Performance Management system.”

[H/T Fox News]

NBC and CBS Praise Hillary Clinton Being ‘On Offense’ Over Benghazi

On Friday, both NBC’s Today and CBS This Morning dutifully promoted quotes from Hillary Clinton’s new memoir leaked to Politico of the former Secretary of State blasting critics of her mishandling of the Benghazi terrorist attack. Today co-host Savannah Guthrie proclaimed: “If there was any doubt Hillary Clinton’s clearly ready to go on offense on this.” Political director Chuck Todd agreed: “There’s no doubt at all. In fact, there’s a concerted campaign effort.”

On CBS This Morning, correspondent Nancy Cordes declared: “…the former Secretary of State strikes a defiant tone about the attack and all the investigations into it…” Moments later, Cordes observed: “Democrats are going to see this as a kind of template for how to talk about the Benghazi attacks. In fact, the Clinton team is reportedly meeting with Democratic groups to explain her tone in the book so that everyone is on the same page.”

http://www.mrctv.org/embed/127365

Todd similarly noted on Today: “I know of Hillary Clinton advisers have been meeting with Democratic strategists around town here in Washington to go back and forth, let them know what’s in this Benghazi chapter. Now, of course, the public knows.”

Todd also applauded Clinton’s “strategy” in pushing the memoir: “She’s sitting down with Fox News – which has been one of the news organizations that’s been riding this Benghazi story more than anybody – because they [Clinton’s team] want to get this out of the way now….They don’t want Benghazi hanging over her head and these questions and the investigations during when the campaign actually begins.”

Both Guthrie and Cordes recited Clinton’s talking points from the book:

I will not be a part of a political slugfest on the backs of dead Americans. It’s just plain wrong and it’s unworthy of our great country. Those who insist on politicizing the tragedy will have to do so without me….Many of these same people are a broken record about unanswered questions. But there is a difference between unanswered questions and unlistened to answers.

Following the report from Cordes, This Morning co-host Charlie Rose made sure to squeeze in one more bit of spin: “You should note…that the Secretary says that some people that night were motivated by the video and others were not. They were motivated by two different things.”

Cordes briefly summarized the GOP response: “Republicans are gonna say that she’s trying to get out of discussing this issue, both before Congress and on the campaign trail.” Guthrie and Todd didn’t bother with such criticism. Neither broadcast featured a quote from a single Republican.

ABC’s Good Morning America skipped Clinton’s Benghazi commentary completely, but did find time to tout a “secret off-the-books meeting between Hillary Clinton and President Obama at the White House” that “prompts new talk of [a] presidential run.”

[H/T News Busters]