U.S. Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN) introduced legislation this week that would give the secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) more flexibility to remove, demote or suspend employees for performance issues or misconduct.
Roe, the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, was joined by U.S. Reps. Mike Coffman (R-CO), Bruce Poliquin (R-ME) and Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) in introducing the VA Accountability First Act, H.R. 1259, in the House.
“Time and time again, I have called to reform the VA — an organization that has been mired in a culture of corruption and bureaucratic incompetence,” Coffman said. “The VA has consistently failed to meet our nation’s obligations to the men and women who have made tremendous sacrifices in defense of our freedoms.”
H.R. 1259 would improve whistleblower protections, enable the VA secretary to reduce an employee’s federal pension if he or she is convicted of a felony, recoup bonuses to employees later found to have engaged in misconduct, and establish a system to recoup illegitimate relocation expenses.
A U.S. Government Accountability Office study found it takes on average six months to a year to remove a permanent civil servant in the federal government.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who introduced a Senate version of the bill, said “incompetent and uncaring employees” within the VA have been allowed to fail at their jobs without consequences for too long.
“In the past, we’ve passed measures to institute accountability but lacked a president and VA secretary who would actually implement them and fire VA employees who are failing our veterans,” Rubio said. “Now, it’s time to finally provide our veterans with the quality, efficient health care they have earned and deserve, instead of protecting the big labor unions seeking to keep the status quo of incompetence and malfeasance.”