FILE - In this June 21, 2013, file photo, the seal affixed to the front of the Department of Veterans Affairs building in Washington. A House committee unveiled a disputed plan July 21, 2017, to allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to shift $2 billion from other programs to cover a sudden budget shortfall that could threaten medical care for thousands of patients in the coming weeks.(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin makes an announcement at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, Monday, June 5, 2017. Shulkin announced plans to revamp the department's information technology system. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin makes an announcement at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, Monday, June 5, 2017. Shulkin announced plans to revamp the department's information technology system. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
FILE - In this June 21, 2013, file photo, the seal affixed to the front of the Department of Veterans Affairs building in Washington. The House approved legislation Tuesday, May 23, to cut the time it takes for the Department of Veterans Affairs to handle appeals from veterans unhappy with their disability payouts, an effort to reduce a rapidly growing claims backlog without adding billions in government costs. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
FILE - In this June 21, 2013, file photo, the seal affixed to the front of the Department of Veterans Affairs building in Washington. The Senate has approved legislation that would extend a program aimed at widening veterans' access to private-sector health care.The bill passed by voice vote. It would allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to continue operating its Choice program until its money runs out, expected early in 2018. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
FILE - In this July 9, 2015 file photo, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Department of Veterans Affairs faces a serious numbers problem _ multiple in fact. It can't count how many veterans died while waiting to sign up for health care. It says some VA hospitals may have to close if the agency can't get $2.5 billion. And a year after scandal rocked the department, congressional Republicans want to know why the number of employees fired is so low. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
"The retaliatory culture, where whistleblowers are castigated for bringing problems to light, is still very much alive and well in the Department of Veterans Affairs," said Rep. Mike Coffman, Colorado Republican. (Associated Press)
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015, before the House Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing on the Department of Veterans Affairs budget. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
National Edition News cover for November 7, 2014 - VA purchased ‘gray market’ supplies: **FILE** The seal affixed to the front of the Department of Veterans Affairs building in Washington is seen here on June 21, 2013. (Associated Press)
The seal affixed to the front of the Department of Veterans Affairs building in Washington is seen here on June 21, 2013. The number of military suicides is nearly double that of a decade ago when the U.S. was just a year into the Afghan war and hadn't yet invaded Iraq. While the pace is down slightly this year, it remains worryingly high. The U.S. military and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) acknowledge the grave difficulties facing active-duty and former members of the armed services who have been caught up in the more-than decade-long American involvement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Associated Press)
House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, Florida Republican, holds up two pages of resource requests from the Department of Veterans Affairs on Thursday, as he questions the Cabinet department's acting secretary on how to restore trust among veterans and taxpayers alike toward the beleaguered agency. (associated press photographs)