Lawmakers from both parties say money from a new health care law will not be used to pay for a half-finished hospital in Denver that one senator called a "mockery of government contracting."
The Department of Veterans Affairs is asking Congress to redirect $730 million from a new law intended to reduce waiting times for veterans seeking health care to complete the long-delayed hospital. The project now is expected to cost more than $1.7 billion, nearly triple an estimate VA gave last year.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Senate veterans panel, called the project a mockery and said the funding request was a "non-starter."
VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson said the agency does "not have $700 million sitting on the sidelines."
