Nicholson quits Veterans Affairs post

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson, who had to explain the theft of agency computer files containing personal data on millions of veterans and active service members, announced yesterday he is resigning.

The 69-year-old Mr. Nicholson, who is returning to the private sector, is the latest in a lengthening line of senior officials heading for the exits in the final 1½ years of President Bush’s administration.

Mr. Nicholson, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, has headed the department since February 2005. Before that, he was U.S. ambassador to the Vatican and chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Mr. Nicholson also headed an interagency task force of seven Cabinet officers that Mr. Bush set up in response to problems with patient care at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. The administration had been embarrassed earlier this year by revelations of shoddy care for veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Nicholson, who oversaw a vast network of 1,400 VA hospitals and clinics that provide supplemental care and rehabilitation to 5.8 million veterans, defended the administration’s performance on veterans issues but conceded there was room for improvement.

“When you’re seeing over 1 million patients a week, you have to be very good, and if there is any one patient who doesn’t get the care that they deserve, that’s unacceptable,” he said last March.

Within months of taking office at the VA, Mr. Nicholson had to deal with a $1 billion shortfall at the agency, requiring the administration to appeal to Congress for emergency spending.

Mr. Nicholson came under harsh criticism in Congress after it was revealed in May 2006 that VA computer files with personal data, including Social Security numbers, for 26.5 million veterans and active-duty troops, were missing.

Burglars had stolen computer equipment from a data analyst’s Maryland home. Law-enforcement officials recovered the laptop and hard drive about two months later after being tipped by an informant who had heard about a $50,000 reward and knew where they could be found.

Called to account at Capitol Hill hearings, Mr. Nicholson said he was angry that he hadn’t been told about the burglary until nearly two weeks after it happened.