Sanders signaled his VA bill would move in the direction sought by Democrats. VA moves Sanders to center stage

He’s a combative, self-described “democratic socialist” more prone to hand-to-hand combat with Republicans than cutting deals with them.

But Bernie Sanders now is tasked with leading Democrats through a sensitive political dilemma that’s putting their party on the defensive.


With Eric Shinseki out at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the focus now shifts to Capitol Hill, placing the two-term Vermont independent and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman at the center of the growing VA health care controversy. Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats, is assembling a legislative package to help address the issue in the hopes that he can consolidate support within the veterans community and assuage concerns of vulnerable Democrats.

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In the process, he’ll have to win over enough Republicans to push the bill through the narrowly divided Senate — or maneuver deftly so it appears that Democrats aren’t blamed for its failure.

It’s a tall task for anyone in a gridlocked Congress — let alone a fiery partisan in the middle of an intense election year. And he’s already engaged in a fierce back-and-forth with Republicans on the issue, after the GOP rejected his $21 billion vets bill earlier this year and he blocked a House plan aimed at holding senior VA officials more accountable.

In an interview Friday, the 72-year-old Sanders signaled his VA bill would move in the direction sought by Democrats: Expand access to health care within the VA system even as the GOP pushes to instead let veterans see private doctors.

( WATCH: Obama's full statement on Shinseki, Veterans Affairs)

The bill Sanders is developing would allow veterans waiting for care to access other federally licensed health centers or seek private care funded by the VA. The bill also proposes paying down student debt for nurses and doctors in order to bring medical professionals to the sprawling veterans health care system. And Sanders said that he will also aim to loosen strict deadlines for providing care within two weeks to vets, arguing that such onerous requirements contributed to the falsification of wait times.

To help head off GOP criticism after blocking the House bill aimed at making it easier to fire or demote senior-level VA officials, Sanders said he wants to strike a compromise with Republicans to hold bad actors accountable .

“I have concerns with what passed in the House because I worry about potential litigation and I worry about the politicization of the VA,” Sanders said as he crisscrossed Vermont, speaking with veterans along the way. “It’s a bad idea. I want to work on a compromise.”

( Also on POLITICO: Hill: Full speed ahead on VA probe)

Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), who chairs the House Veterans Affairs’ Committee, said Friday he was “very disappointed” in Sanders’ position, given that the House passed the accountability bill by a resounding 390-33 vote in May.

“We have to get accountability into the system, and it has to be real accountability,” Miller said. “Just like a member of Congress can fire their staff, so should the secretary have the ability to fire his senior level staff for not doing their job, especially for lying to them.”

Still, after President Barack Obama accepted Shinseki’s resignation Friday, Democrats hope the narrative over the scandal will shift away from the battle over whether there should be a new head of the VA — and instead focus mainly on which party has the best ideas for providing care to veterans. And Democrats believe they got a political boost when Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the ranking member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, engaged in a bitter tit-for-tat last week with some of the nation’s largest veterans groups over what he argued was their interest in “defending the status quo within” the VA.

( Also on POLITICO: Shinseki resigns)

But Democrats know they are not out of the woods yet, with growing GOP calls for more heads to roll.

“First, we have to come up with accountability: Who did what wrong, who should lead the veterans administration, where is the accountability?” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in an interview. “Second, we can’t leave it at that; we have to get it well. Are veterans getting adequate health care?”

Schumer added: “To fire a whole lot of people, that may not make health care system work any better. And we have to work at that as well.”

On Sunday, Sanders laid out the guts of Senate Democrats’ proposal: Establish 27 new VA health care facilities in 18 states, upgrade the organization’s aging scheduling system, incentivize the hiring of more doctors and nurses and require Obama to create a national commission on veterans’ access to health care. His committee will convene on Thursday to begin considering the legislation.

That the gruff Sanders is now in the middle of navigating through a political logjam for red-state Democrats seems rather unlikely. Since joining the Senate in 2007, the former 16-year House veteran has established himself at the far left of the Democratic Caucus, as an aggressive voice calling for greater social welfare programs, a larger government role in health care and the elimination of tax breaks for corporations and the rich. His nearly nine-hour floor speech in 2010 — dubbed a “filibernie” — railing on Obama’s bipartisan tax deal made him a hero of the left. And he’s even openly toyed with the idea of running for president in 2016 as an independent.

But in recent days, Sanders has moved from being a fringe player in the caucus to a central player on a crucial issue dominating the national debate. He’s been on the phone with Obama and White House chief of staff Denis McDonough about how to move legislation forward in this tricky political climate.

“We’re going to take a lot of guidance from him on how to improve the system,” Schumer said.

Part of Sanders’ challenge will also be navigating a divide in his own caucus. As senators return to Washington this week, Democrats will have to concoct a plan to hold more officials accountable, just as Republicans ratchet up pressure to pass a House bill that makes it easier to fire senior VA executives caught up in the falsification of records and the delay of health care.

Sanders, who says he still has concerns with that bill, is worried that it would eviscerate officials’ due process and potentially lead to mass firings whenever the White House changes hands.

But a number of Democrats up for reelection this year were concerned enough about the scandal’s fallout — in the wake of a scathing inspector general’s report last week — that they quickly signed on to the House bill last week. Mark Warner of Virginia, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana became co-sponsors of the Senate’s version of the House bill, sponsored by Republican Marco Rubio of Florida. Landrieu also added an amendment last month to a spending bill that would give the VA secretary greater leeway to fire or demote officials.

There are pressures on the left, too — particularly from the labor community, which is close to Sanders. The AFL-CIO and the American Federation of Government Employees said they are deferring to the Senior Executives Association, which represents those who could be affected by the House bill. SEA has expressed “deep disappointment” with the accountability legislation, arguing it will scare off talented recruits who might work at the VA. SEA is urging the Senate to include “due process” provisions in the VA legislation if it passes.

The new Sanders bill includes due-process provisions and would allow the new VA secretary to immediately remove “incompetent” actors, according to a summary of the bill. But Sanders said it’s the GOP that has politicized the process, making the political climate more difficult.

“You had the Koch brothers and the Republican organizations running ads attacking Democrats on this issue,” Sanders said. “And I think that is going to create a very politicized environment.”