U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s, R-Fla., push to reform the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is gaining momentum in Washington, D.C., including the support of the Trump administration.
Last week, Rubio, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., unveiled the “Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act" which would “reform the VA by allowing the secretary to dismiss bad employees, and ensure appropriate due process protections for whistleblowers.” If the legislation was passed, the VA secretary would have more power to remove or demote under-performing and incompetent employees while giving whistleblowers more protection, including creating the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection in the VA. The bill would also ensure more accountability in the VA medical system, giving the VA secretary the ability to “directly appoint individuals to the positions of Medical Center Director and Director of Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) if they have demonstrated ability in the medical profession, health care administration, or health care fiscal management."
At a Senate Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Thursday, VA Sec. David Shulkin praised the proposal.
“In your view, what is the appropriate approach?” Rubio asked about his proposal and giving the VA secretary more authority to fire underpeforming employees. “Is it to leave as is or to lower the standard on misconduct, but raise it on performance? And second, if in fact your belief is that they should both be the substantial evidence model, if you have any examples as to how the current standard, for example, on misconduct, has been an impediment to accountability and being able to function in your new role.
“Senator Rubio, first of all, thank you for recognizing that the vast amount of our employees are doing terrific and heroic work and are serving this country’s veterans and we should be proud of them, of the work that they’re doing,” Shulkin answered. “We’re talking here about a very, very small number of employees who have deviated and drifted away from the ethical and the responsibilities that they took on to serve our country’s veterans and no longer should have the privilege of serving in our system.
“In those cases, I wish it wasn’t true,” Shulkin said. “I wish today I could tell you I have the tools to do the right thing, to be able to remove those employees. I do not. So unfortunately, I need a new set of tools if I’m going to be held accountable for turning this system around and doing what we all want to do to serve veterans. So I thank you for introducing this bill, I think it’s necessary.
“In response to your questions which are highly legal and technical. I only went to medical school, not to law school,” the VA secretary continued. “I can tell you that I need substantial evidence in both of those cases, in performance and misconduct. That if we move towards a different standard than substantial, it will be harder for me to do the right thing and to serve the system the way that it needs to be led.
“This [legislation] allows due process,” Shulkin added. “I believe it’s very important that our employees have due process. The right to pre-decisional appeals, the right to be represented by the union or their attorneys, but in the cases that frankly we need to make the changes in management or other changes, today I just don’t have that ability to do it.”
On the other side of the aisle, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who is co-sponsoring the bill, continues to go to bat for it.
“This bill will help the VA provide better care to our veterans by removing the bad actors and protecting the good ones,” Nelson said on Thursday. “The brave men and women who have served our country deserve nothing but the best, and this bill is another small step in ensuring that they receive the care they deserve.”
Conservative group Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) also has championed the VA reform proposal. On Thursday, CVA Policy Director Dan Caldwell weighed in on the legislation.
“After years of scandal, there is still hardly any accountability within the Department of Veterans Affairs,” Caldwell said. :The VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act will give Secretary Shulkin the authority he needs to hold department employees responsible for their actions, something he has repeatedly said is necessary in order for him to fix the toxic culture there. If passed into law, this bill will significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to terminate, demote, or suspend employees who engage in misconduct or perform poorly. Taken together, these new measures will disincentivize bad behavior within the VA and further protect those who bravely expose wrongdoing.
“This is not a partisan issue, this is not a partisan bill, and there is absolutely no excuse for Congress not to expedite moving this bill forward,” Caldwell added."Veterans across the country are watching and demanding action. We strongly urge the Senate to take up the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 immediately.”
Caldwell also wrote an op-ed in support of the legislation which ran in The Hill on Friday.
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