After five Department of Veterans Affairs officials didn’t show up at a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing last week to examine an Inspector
General’s (IG) report, titled “Inappropriate Use of Position and
the Misuse of the Relocation Program and Incentives,” the committee issued subpoenas to force the officials to testify at a hearing on Monday.
U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello (R-PA) issued a statement in support of the subpoenas.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that these officials failed to appear before our committee today, especially in light of the IG’s findings,” Costello said. “It is imperative that these officials…appear before the House Veterans Affairs Committee so that we can get to the bottom of the misuse of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars and abuse of authority by senior VA officials.”
The purpose of
the hearing is to publicly examine the IG’s report in detail, as well
as determine what steps should be taken to ensure future accountability
for officials.
This is only the fourth subpoena
issued in the history of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and the
first for witness testimony.