Kentucky Democratic Senate Candidate Calls For VA Secretary To Resign

Tim Shaffer/REUTERSEric Shinseki makes remarks during a visit to the Coatesville VA Medical center in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, April 12, 2012.

Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Democratic challenger to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Kentucky Senate race, is calling on the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs to resign amid a burgeoning scandal within the department.

"We owe a solemn obligation to our veterans and our government defaulted on that contract," Grimes said in a statement of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki. "I don't see how that breach of trust with our veterans can be repaired if the current leadership stays in place."

The Obama administration is under fire for the growing VA scandal, since reports surfaced nearly a month ago detailing patients dying while waiting for care at the Phoenix VA facility. Calls have mounted for Shinseki to resign or be fired. In a statement on Wednesday from the White House briefing room, President Barack Obama defended Shinseki, but he promised "accountability" if the allegations engulfing the agency were true.

In calling for his resignation, Grimes went further than many national Republicans who have blasted the administration over the scandal. House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday he is "getting closer" to calling for Shinseki's resignation.