GRASSROOTS VETERANS GROUP URGES CONGRESS TO HOLD BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN, VASEC, SENIOR OFFICIALS ACCOUNTABLE TO UPHOLD MISSION TO VETERANS
ARLINGTON, Va. – Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) Strategic Director John Byrnes issued a statement following today’s House Veterans Affairs Committee’s oversight hearing titled, “Accountable or Absent?: Examining VA Leadership Under the Biden-Harris Administration.” The hearing questioned if the Biden-Harris administration and current VA leadership are being held accountable to ensure veterans are served by a safe, productive, and prosperous VA – one that upholds the law and provides adequate care:
“The Biden-Harris VA under Secretary Denis McDonough is failing our nation’s heroes by not holding top officials accountable to act with integrity and uphold the VA’s mission to treat the veterans they vowed to serve.
Today, ten years after the 2014 Phoenix VA Scandal, we see the same issues plaguing this administration’s Department of Veterans Affairs. Current VA leadership supports bureaucratic barriers to veteran access to community care – access that the VA MISSION Act authorizes.
The VA is riddled with perhaps the worst malfeasance we’ve seen in over a decade. Considering ongoing misconduct, such as a recent bonus scandal, sexual harassment claims, and the VA’s failure to provide veterans with lifesaving community care options, our message to the Congress is clear: The Biden-Harris VA officials must be held fully accountable for their actions and for not carrying out the MISSION Act.”
Background
The gross misconduct revealed during the 2014 Phoenix VA Scandal drove Congress to pass 2017 legislation designed to hold VA employees accountable for their performance and to protect whistleblowers. Unfortunately, the law was mired in litigation and undermined by the decisions of federal agencies before the VA stopped enforcing it altogether.
The proposed Restore VA Accountability Act of 2023 reinstates the will of Congress by holding VA Senior Executives, Supervisors, and Employees accountable for providing the quality and timely care veterans have earned, while also protecting whistleblowers trying to improve the VA. Specifically, the legislation would:
- Ensure VA decisions supported by substantial evidence are upheld on appeal.
- Eliminate red tape that forces supervisors to keep poorly performing employees or those who have clearly committed misconduct on the payroll for months.
- Create a level disciplinary playing field by allowing expedited removals of all categories of VA employees, while still respecting due process.
Beyond giving the VA more tools to hold poorly performing employees accountable, Congress should also leverage its power of the purse to ensure that the VA carries out its responsibilities under the MISSION Act and stays focused on its primary role of serving veterans.