Marco Rubio: VA Protects Bad Employees, Needs More Reform

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is currently running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, said the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs needs to hold more employees accountable after reports emerged last year about veterans dying after being placed on altered waiting lists while seeking medical treatment.

Despite Congress voting for reform measures last year, Rubio said their efforts were not working quickly enough.

The purpose of last years VA reform law was to take people out of positions where they can do damage to our veterans but also prevent a broader culture of incompetence, Rubio said on Thursday. Its clear the laws measures are not working swiftly enough, and the VA is in danger of further entrenching a work environment where people get too comfortable in the belief that their jobs are safe even if their performance is terrible.

Im very concerned that the VA secretary has apparently not been straightforward with the American people and with Congress about the departments use of the firing authority it was granted last year, Rubio added. Our veterans who have been victimized by incompetence and ethical lapses at the VA deserve better, and Congress should step up with new measures to do right by them.