Colorado U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman is calling for the resignation of the U.S. Veterans Affairs secretary as he faces allegations of abusing government travel privileges.

A report this week from the Veterans Affairs inspector general also says David J. Shulkin’s staff made false statements and altered an email for a cover-up.

“The abuses detailed in the VA’s inspector general report violate the trust and integrity that our veterans and taxpayers demand and deserve,” Coffman, R-Aurora, said in a statement. “After closely reviewing the (inspector general’s) report and the findings that VA Secretary Shulkin and his staff misled ethics officials and lied to investigators, I have concluded that it is time for him to step down.”

Coffman is a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

The inspector general’s report says Shulkin, some members of his staff and his wife took a trip last summer to Copenhagen and London at a cost of $122,334 for taxpayers. It included about $4,300 in airfare for Shulkin’s wife.

In London, he improperly accepted a gift of tickets to the Wimbledon tennis tournament, the report says.

“Although the (inspector general’s office) cannot determine the value VA gained from the Secretary and his delegation’s three and a half days of meetings in Copenhagen and London at a cost of at least $122,334, the investigation revealed serious derelictions by VA personnel,” the report says.

Shulkin is only the latest Trump administration Cabinet member or advisor to come under pressure to resign after allegations of corrupt behavior. Public outrage over improper travel expenses forced out Tom Price as health and human services secretary last fall. Price, like Shulkin, said he thought his travel expenses were acceptable under government standards.

Shulkin called the inspector general’s report “inaccurate” and said it was politically motivated.

“It is outrageous that you would portray my wife and me as attempting to take advantage of the government,” he wrote in a statement.

Nevertheless, Shulkin agreed to reimburse the government for his wife’s travel expenses and to pay for the tennis tournament tickets.

Coffman says Shulkin’s alleged travel expense abuses are part of a pattern indicating it is time for change.

“This Administration inherited a VA mired in a culture of corruption and bureaucratic incompetence,” Coffman said. “Secretary Shulkin has done little to clean up the VA and given the facts of this (inspector general’s) investigation, it’s clear to me that he lacks the moral authority to get the job done.”

Colorado U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Windsor, offered a milder criticism of Shulkin and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

“I haven’t reviewed all the evidence and I’m not going to make a snap judgment on someone’s career, but I believe in holding public officials to the highest standards,” Buck told Colorado Politics.

Buck is a member of the House Judiciary Committee.

The Veterans Affairs Department responded to the inspector general’s report with a statement saying, “Accountability and transparency are important values at VA under President Trump and we look forward to reviewing the report and its recommendations in more detail before determining an appropriate response.”

The dispute over Shulkin’s travel expenses is not the first time Coffman has been harshly critical of the Veterans Affairs Department. He hinted in his statement this week at his criticisms of the $1.7 billion Veterans Administration Hospital in Aurora scheduled to open soon.

It is about $1 billion over budget and behind schedule on its construction. It is being built to resolve problems with long delays for treatment and allegations of substandard care at the Veterans Administration Eastern Colorado Health Care System in Denver.

“When there is a culture of corruption and accountability is broken, we end up with veterans on waiting lists, hospitals delayed and over budget and unelected bureaucrats who are not accountable to the people,” Coffman said.

He launched his criticisms another time during a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing Thursday.

He suggested that Shulkin fire the personnel responsible for the high costs and delays for the new hospital in Aurora.

“The people who have their fingerprints over this stuff are the same people who are there,” Coffman said during the hearing. “I want to encourage you without legislation, if it requires it then we need to move it forward, that you need to find these people another job, hopefully somewhere outside of the federal government.”