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Washington, D.C. – In the wake of a new report detailing how very few people have been held accountable for last year’s scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) today introduced the “VA Accountability Act of 2015,” which would give the VA secretary additional authorities to remove or demote any VA employee based on performance or misconduct.
This legislation would expand on the “Increasing VA Accountability to Veterans Act of 2015” Rubio co-sponsored in January by giving the VA secretary the authority to terminate any employees for performance-related issues, not just managers. It mirrors legislation filed in the U.S. House of Representatives by House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-FL).
“I was proud to lead the effort to give the VA secretary the authority to fire senior executives based on performance, but it’s clear additional authorities are needed to deal with the full scope of the problems at the VA,” said Rubio. “This new legislation will leave the VA secretary with no excuse but to hold those responsible for the dysfunction and incompetence plaguing our VA system accountable for their actions while protecting whistleblowers from retaliation. We must show our veterans the respect they have earned by removing any employees with terrible performance from the system our veterans rely on.”
The “Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act” (the Choice Act), which included legislation sponsored by Rubio that gave the VA secretary the authority to fire senior executives based on performance, was signed into law on Aug. 7, 2014. Despite an estimated 280,000 VA employees being involved in the appointment scheduling scandal that came to light last year, only three employees have actually been fired for their involvement.
Specifically, the “VA Accountability Act of 2015” would:
Click here to read the full text of the legislation.