An Obama Administration First? Four Employees Fired For Role in VA Scandal

Unless I am incorrect, until today no one has gotten fired from the Obama Administration, the closest was the recent resignation of Secret Service Director Julia Pierson of whom many say was fired despite the Administration's contention she voluntarily resigned.  But today is a watershed moment in the Obama administration:

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced the firing of four senior officials as a result of information obtained during the investigation into long wait times at VA facilities around the country.

"[The] VA will actively and aggressively pursue disciplinary action on those who violate our values," VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson said in a statement.
"There should be no doubt that when we discover evidence of wrongdoing, we will hold employees accountable."

The four fired senior officials are Susan Taylor, the deputy chief procurement director in Washington D.C. who unfairly awarded contracts to a private reverse auction company without actually considering other bids; Terry Gerigk Wolf, director of the Pittsburgh VA Healthcare System, who behaved with "conduct unbecoming a senior executive"; James Talton, director of the Central Alabama VA Healthcare System, who was found guilty of repeated neglect; and the director of the VA medical center in Dublin, Georgia.

Is this the coming of a new era of accountability for the Obama administration? Probably not. More likely is that these four folks fell victim of the White House needing to display some bodies to prove they are working on the problems with the VA.