A bill co-authored by Georgia U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson is aiming to make it easier for leaders at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to fire problematic employees.
The bipartisan legislation, which the Senate is expected to consider next week, would expedite the process for VA officials to remove and replace bad workers. It would also create a way to strip employees of bonuses and other benefits if they’re later convicted of a work-related felony.
"With each new scandal, what became abundantly clear is that the VA lacks the tools to discipline or remove its bad actors," Isakson, the Republican chairman of the Senate's Veterans Affairs Committee, wrote last month in an op-ed in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "When the VA cannot hold negligent employees accountable, everyone loses."
Many major veterans groups support the plan, as does VA Secretary David Shulkin, who told reporters Wednesday that the department's accountability processes "are clearly broken."
“We have to wait more than a month to fire a psychiatrist who was caught on camera watching pornography using his iPad while seeing a veteran,” Shulkin said.
President Donald Trump created a new accountability office at the department in April, but the Senate bill would go further.
A government workers union warned that the legislation could lead to the mass firing of caregivers.
“This legislation is the antithesis of accountability because it would allow corrupt or incompetent managers to get away with firing anyone who challenges them,” said J. David Cox Sr., the president of the American Federation of Government Employees. “Real accountability would strengthen, not weaken, protections for the rank-and-file employees who are subjected to mismanagement, abuse and political corruption.”
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