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March 14, 2013: Rob Nabors, President Barack Obama's deputy chief of staff, leaves a closed-door meeting between Obama and Senate Republicans, at the Capitol in Washington.AP

President Obama is dispatching one of his closest White House advisers to oversee a review of the beleaguered Veterans Affairs Department as the agency grapples with allegations of treatment delays and preventable deaths at a Phoenix veterans hospital.

White House deputy chief of staff Rob Nabors will be temporarily assigned to the VA to work on a review focused on policies for patient safety rules and the scheduling of patient appointments, officials said Wednesday. The move signals Obama's growing concern over problems at the department, particularly recent reports that hospital administrators in Phoenix kept an off-the-books list to conceal long wait times as 40 veterans died waiting to get an appointment. Similar problems have since been reported in other states.

The allegations have sparked a firestorm inside the VA and on Capitol Hill. The American Legion and some congressional Republicans have called for the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, who is scheduled to testify before a Senate committee Thursday.

"While we get to the bottom of what happened in Phoenix, it's clear the VA needs to do more to ensure quality care for our veterans," Obama said in a statement. "I'm grateful that Rob, one of my most trusted advisers, has agreed to work with Secretary Shinseki to help the team at this important moment."

Obama ordered the patient policy review after the Phoenix allegations became public. But officials said Shinseki requested more help with the review, leading Obama's chief of staff, Denis McDonough, to tap Nabors for the assignment.

The move is similar to the action the White House took last year when it assigned longtime Obama aide Jeffrey Zients to take over management of the troubled HealthCare.gov website from officials at the Health and Human Services Department. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius later resigned her post.

Despite calls for Shinseki to step down, the White House insists that Obama continues to have confidence in the secretary, a retired four-star Army general. Shinseki said he welcomed Nabors' help in ensuring veterans have access to timely, quality health care.

"If allegations about manipulation of appointment scheduling are true, they are completely unacceptable -- to veterans, to me and to our dedicated VA employees," Shinseki said.

Though Nabors has kept a low public profile, he is one of Obama's closest advisers and has played key roles in the president's fiscal battles with congressional Republicans. Nabors, the son of an Army veteran, was appointed deputy chief of staff following Obama's re-election and previously served as the president's chief congressional liaison and deputy budget director.

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Obama assigning deputy chief of staff Nabors to oversee VA review

President Obama warned that Congress's failure to pass transportation funding could cost 700,000 jobs and effectively force states to halt 100,000 improvement projects.

President Obama traveled to New Yorks Tappan Zee Bridge in Tarrytown, N.Y., to implore Congress to pass a languishing transportation bill that the White House says would secure 700,000 jobs and begin to restore the nations crumbling infrastructure.

Staff writer

Noelle Swan writes for the national news desk at the Monitor. She previously worked on the Business and Family pages as a writer and editor.

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If they dont act by the summer, funding for transportation projects will run out, the president warned. The cupboard will be bare.

Without federal funding, states may have to put the brakes on 100,000 active projects restoring roads, modernizing transit systems, and strengthening bridges, Mr. Obama said.

More than 63,000 bridges in the United States are in woeful need of repair, according to an American Road and Transportation Builders Association report released late last month.

The Tappan Zee Bridge is routinely overcrowded and holes in the pavement offer occasional views of the river.

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Obama warns transportation money will run out if Congress dawdles (+video)

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President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama toured the Sept. 11 museum on Thursday, viewing a memorial wall with photos of victims and a mangled fire truck, ahead of a ceremony marking its opening.

Obama walked quietly through an expansive hall with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, with the first lady, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton following behind them.

Obama was set to speak at the dedication ceremony later Thursday, with hundreds of dignitaries and Sept. 11 victims' relatives, survivors and rescuers there to view the museum built to commemorate the 2001 terrorist attack, as well as the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The museum opens to the public May 21.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, current New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and former New York Gov. George Pataki were among those attending, as was actor Robert De Niro, a museum board member.

By turns chilling and heartbreaking, the ground zero museum leads people on an unsettling journey through the terrorist attacks, with forays into their lead up and legacy.

There are scenes of horror, including videos of the skyscrapers collapsing and people falling from them. But there also are symbols of heroism, ranging from damaged fire trucks to the wristwatch of one of the airline passengers who confronted the hijackers.

"You won't walk out of this museum without a feeling that you understand humanity in a deeper way," museum President Joe Daniels said Wednesday.

The museum and memorial plaza above, which opened in 2011, were built for $700 million in donations and tax dollars. Work on the museum was marked by construction problems, financial squabbles and disputes over its content and the appropriate way to honor the dead, but its leaders see it as a monument to unity and resilience.

And its opening is prompting reflection from presidents and the everyday people whose lives were changed by the attacks. Former President George W. Bush issued a statement Wednesday saying the museum "will help ensure that our nation remembers the lessons of Sept. 11."

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Obama, First Lady Tour Sept. 11 Museum

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