The Senate unanimously passed the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act today, bipartisan legislation that would reform the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by allowing the secretary to dismiss bad employees and ensure appropriate due process protections for whistleblowers.
U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., cosponsored the legislation which is led by U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Jon Tester, D-Mont.
The Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act increases the VA’s authority to remove employees at all levels of the department, shortens the removal process and ensures an individual removed from the VA is not kept on the VA’s payroll while appealing that decision. It will also make it easier for the VA to remove poor performing senior executives and replace them with qualified candidates. Additionally, any appeals by senior VA executives would no longer be brought before the Merit Systems Protection Board, but instead would be handled directly by the VA secretary under an expedited timeline.
The Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act will establish in law the newly created Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection within the VA.
The Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act is widely supported by key veterans stakeholders including the VA and U.S. House VA committee leadership. It has also won the support of numerous veterans advocacy groups that represent millions of veterans in the United States and key government accountability groups. Read more about the legislation’s support here.
The legislation also includes a number of other provisions to hold employees accountable, including:
- Requires the VA to evaluate supervisors based on the protection of whistleblowers;
- Incentivizes managers to address poor performance and misconduct among employees by requiring the VA secretary to include this as part of the annual performance plan;
- Prohibits bonuses for employees who have been found guilty of wrongdoing; and
- Prohibits relocation expenses to employees who abuse the system.
