Hershel Gober, President Clinton's nominee to be secretary of Veterans Affairs, withdrew his name Friday "after Senate Republicans demanded a public hearing that administration officials said would have delved into allegations of 'unwanted contact' between Gober and two unidentified women in 1993," Washington Post reports.
According to "[a]dministration sources," two inquiries cleared Gober of any wrongdoing in the incidents. However, Republicans were concerned that one of the inquiries was led by former VA General Counsel Mary Lou Keener, "who became Gober's wife in 1996." An administration official said, "The primary concern wasn't the incident so much. It was the way the VA handled the investigation of it that was of paramount concern to the guys on the Hill."
Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Arlen Specter (R-PA) "said that Gober's confirmation hearing probably would have been 'contentious,' but that Gober might have survived." However, Specter insisted that the allegations against the nominee "had to be raised in public."
In light of Gober's withdrawal, "the White House said it will withdraw the nomination of Alphonso Maldon Jr., a legislative assistant to the president, who was slated to succeed Gober as deputy VA secretary." Washington Post notes that "[h]alf of the VA's top political positions are currently vacant," a fact that drew "a complaint from" the head of Disabled American Veterans. National Commander Harry McDonald Jr. said, "No one is minding the store and that's got a lot of veterans worried." He added that some VA programs "could be hovering on the brink of disaster" (McAllister/Baker, 10/25).
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