Updated 10:09 a.m. | President Barack Obama will make a statement at 10:45 a.m. after meeting with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and Deputy Chief of Staff Rob Nabors at the White House as the VA crisis continued to mushroom overnight. The 10 a.m. meeting was added to the president’s public schedule Wednesday, and comes amid repeated questions about whether Obama — who campaigned on the issue of improving VA health care as a candidate — had done enough to personally stay on top of the issue as president.  

That’s a narrative Press Secretary Jay Carney set out to undermine at Tuesday’s briefing, and we can expect Carney to point to this morning’s meeting as further evidence that getting to the bottom of the issue is at the top of the president’s agenda.  

Nabors is scheduled to travel later today to Phoenix, Ariz.,  where the scandal erupted over charges of secret waiting lists aimed at garnering performance bonuses. Since that story broke, charges have been pouring in about other VA facilities.  

The Associated Press reported late Tuesday that the Inspector General had expanded its investigation over allegations of falsifying wait lists to 26 facilities.