Arlington, VA — The Justice Department has decided not to prosecute two senior officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) after the House Veterans Affairs Committee (HVAC) asked for a perjury investigation. The HVAC claimed the officials misled Congress about problems with the Aurora, Colorado VA hospital construction project.
The construction of a new VA hospital in Aurora has over-run by $1 billion in extra costs, and has been ongoing for roughly a decade. The project will likely not be finished until “almost 20 years after the VA identified the need to replace and expand” the facility, according to the Inspector General.
Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) Policy Director Dan Caldwell released the following statement:
“The fact remains that senior VA officials have wasted and mismanaged millions of dollars on a failed project while moving at a snail’s pace. The Aurora hospital fiasco highlights much of what is wrong with the VA system: waste, bureaucracy, and zero accountability to taxpayers or veterans. We look forward to the House passing the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act soon so that incompetent employees can be removed quickly.”
On Tuesday, the House will vote on the VA Accountability First and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017, which passed the Senate with bipartisan support last week. The bill will make it easier to fire bad VA employees and protect whistleblowers who speak up about wrongdoing at the department. Both Secretary Shulkin and President Trump support the bill.
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