President Barack Obama is "madder than hell" about the Veterans Affairs scandal, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough says. 
 
 “The president is madder than hell, and I’ve got the scars to prove it, given the briefings I’ve given the president," he said in an interview with CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett that aired Sunday on "Face the Nation." 
 
 "Nobody is more outraged about this problem, right now, Major, than the president of the United States," McDonough added. 
 
 McDonough's comments echoed VA Secretary Eric Shinseki's statement at last week's Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing, when the secretary said he was "mad as hell" about the reports. 
 
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 Shinseki and the Obama administration have come under fire for reports that at least 40 veterans died while waiting for care in the Phoenix VA system. Several lawmakers, as well as The American Legion, a top veterans’ advocacy group, have called on Shinseki to resign. 
 
 Asked about the secretary's performance at the Senate hearing last week, McDonough said: “We don’t score testimony on Capitol Hill or otherwise. What we score is results that results to the services and benefits that our vets have earned.” 
 
 Undersecretary of Health Robert Petzel, who testified with Shinseki at the hearing, stepped down on Friday. 
 
 (WATCH: Jon Stewart mocks General Shinseki 'mad as hell' quote) 
 
 McDonough, as he has in earlier interviews, touted the administration's commitment to veterans and its "historic increase" in benefits for veterans. 
 
 “The president’s demanding that we get to the bottom of the exact allegations that you're talking about as it relates to whether veterans are getting the timely access to care that they have earned," McDonough said, adding that as soon as the reports came out, he reached out to Shinseki to ensure the department had accountability measures in place to handle the problem. 
 
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– White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough today summarized the commander-in-chief's feelings on the VA scandal pretty pointedly: "The president is madder than hell, and I’ve got the scars to prove it, given the briefings I’ve given the president. Nobody is more outraged about this problem, right now," he tells CBS, "than the president of the United States." His comments echo VA Secretary Eric Shinseki's last week, notes Politico, when he told the Senate he was "mad as hell." (Politico notes that Newt Gingrich was equally blunt today when asked whether Shinseki's head should roll: "Yes.") Continued McDonough: "The president’s demanding that we get to the bottom of the exact allegations that you're talking about as it relates to whether veterans are getting the timely access to care that they have earned."