WASHINGTON,DC -- New  developments over delays over veterans care has led Junior Democratic  U.S. Senator Kay Hagan to demand Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to step down. Hagan, a Democrat who faces a tough re-election contest this year against Republican State House Speaker Thom Tilllis issued a statement Wednesday, after further details were made public after the delays veterans experienced in getting care at the VA hospital in Phoneix.

"I am outraged by the findings detailed in the Inspector General's interim report'", Hagan said in a statement.

"When allegations of serious misconduct at the Phoenix VA hospital and others around the country originally came to light, I said we need a full investigation to determine the facts and hold people accountable. Now that some of the most serious allegations have been confirmed by the independent investigation, we can no longer put our faith in the current VA leadership's ability to fix these problems. Secretary Shinseki has served our country honorably over many decades, but in the interest of regaining the trust of our veterans, and implementing real and lasting reforms, I believe it is time for him to step aside and allow new leadership to take the helm at the VA to correct these failings immediately."

Hagan's statement comes less than a week after the Republican senior Senator Richard Burr stirred up controversy of his own with an "open letter' calling  our a number of veteran's groups   for not joining the chorus for calling for Shinsseiki to step aside and accusing those groups of being too cozy with VA leadership at the expense of their own membership.

Those groups have been critical of Burr, saying he and other members of Congress have not done enough to help veterans and are too busy taking political "cheap shots."