The House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday aimed at overhauling the Department of Veterans Affairs and protecting whistleblowers.
The House of Representatives on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved legislation making it easier for the Department of Veterans Affairs to fire employees for misconduct while better protecting staffers who bring wrongdoing to light.
The bill, dubbed the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, cleared the Senate by a voice vote last week and is expected to be signed into law by President Trump soon.
"These changes are crucial to ensure that there's accountability at the VA so that it can deliver for our veterans," said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who sponsored the legislation. Rubio crafted the bill with Sens. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Jon Tester, D-Mont. — the chairman and ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Sponsor Message"Probably 99.9 percent of the people who work in the VA do a great job," said Tester. "And the veterans will tell you when they go into the VA clinics, they do do a great job. But we got a few bad apples."
The new law would give the VA secretary more power to discipline or fire employees and would shorten an appeals process that can last years. The legislation prohibits employees from being paid while they appeal.
The measure also grants the VA secretary the authority to revoke bonuses from underperforming staffers and, in certain cases, reduce the pensions of executive-level employees who are disciplined.
"That being said, you also need to know that it protects those people who are working at the VA, who are doing a good job," said Tester.
New protections for VA whistleblowers
The bill includes new protections against retaliation for VA staffers who expose corruption. It establishes an Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection within the department and forbids the VA secretary from retaliating against whistleblowers who have filed a complaint with the VA general counsel's office.
It was whistleblowers who helped expose the nationwide scandal over long waits for care three years ago.
Beginning in 2014, VA medical facilities across the country were found to have covered up delays in providing care, making waits as long as four months appear much shorter. Since then, the VA has fired fewer than 10 people connected to the wait list scandal.
