VA: Aurora hospital construction will stop if Congress doesn’t act
AP The VA says construction on the budget-busting Denver veterans hospital will stop if Congress doesn't authorize more spending on the project within a week.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Monday his department has identified $150 million it could funnel to the project from this year's budget, but Congress must first raise the spending limit by $200 million to $1 billion.
The spending limit is separate from the the $730 million the VA is asking Congress to appropriate to finish the project.
In a memo dated Monday, McDonald told the Senate panel if Congress doesn't raise the spending limit by May 24, builder Kiewit-Turner will stop work.
The hospital is expected to cost $1.7 billion, nearly three times the estimate the VA gave last year.
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