Americans have a lot to be angry about — especially when it comes to failing our veterans
8:00 PM, Mar 15, 2017
Every reasonable American should be very angry. After all, there's a lot to be angry about. Not least of which, 300,000 veterans died waiting for care from the VA. How about the 50,000 veterans sleeping on the streets tonight? But yeah, some people think there's nothing to be angry about. Clearly, America has more material possessions in 2017 than ever before. But maybe material possessions aren't everything. There are tons of angry people with no right to be angry. More people have mor Read more
Bill would expand care for veterans suffering from Agent Orange exposure
1:01 AM, Mar 13, 2017
Fifteen years ago, the Veterans Affairs Department decided to exclude certain Navy veterans from receiving healthcare treatment related to Agent Orange, a ruling that Sen. Steve Daines is trying to change. In 1991, Congress passed a law requiring the VA to provide coverage to Vietnam veterans with illnesses that the Institute of Medicine has directly linked to Agent Orange exposure. But about a decade later, in 2002, the VA decided it would cover only veterans who could provide they had orders Read more
Veterans' bill deserves bipartisan support
12:01 AM, Mar 11, 2017
With most Americans' minds on healthcare reform this week, the House of Representatives will take a first step toward fulfilling President Trump's campaign promises to veterans . Throughout President Obama's second term, scandals consumed the Department of Veterans Affairs. They evinced an uncaring, self-centered bureaucracy that serves its own needs rather than those of the veterans with whose care it is charged. The House is expected to pass the VA Accountability First Act, which would dram Read more
House GOP targets VA's 'bad apples' in vote next week
12:01 AM, Mar 10, 2017
House Republicans are gearing up for a vote next week on legislation that would make it easier to fire, demote and strip bonus awards from corrupt or negligent officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The vote will come nearly three years after Congress acted to punish VA workers involved in healthcare scandal. In 2014, it was revealed that VA workers around the country were systematically cooking the books to make it look like veterans didn't have to wait very long for a medical appoin Read more
John McCain predicts ongoing global conflict: 'The world is in turmoil'
8:09 PM, Mar 07, 2017
Sen. John McCain on Tuesday predicted more global conflict in the years ahead that will require America to send U.S. troops overseas "My dear friends, the world is in turmoil, and I believe that we will be sending our young men and women into harm's way in a lot of places in the world, for years to come," the Arizona Republican told a House Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing late Tuesday. McCain said that will require Congress to finally fix the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has been Read more
'Designated survivor' for Trump's speech: VA Secretary David Shulkin
9:05 PM, Feb 28, 2017
The so-called "designated survivor" of the Trump administration during the president's speech to Congress Tuesday night: David Shulkin, the secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Shulkin, according to the White House, is the person in the presidential line of succession who was selected to sit out the speech in the case of a catastrophic disaster at the Capitol. Read more
Trump will tell Congress 'the time for trivial fights is behind us'
8:09 PM, Feb 28, 2017
President Trump will tell a joint session of Congress on Tuesday evening it is time for the country to focus on bigger issues, not petty disagreements. "The time for trivial fights is behind us," Trump will tell Congress, according to a preview of his remarks. "The time for small thinking is over ... We just need the courage to share the dreams that fill our hearts." "Think of the marvels we can achieve if we simply set free the dreams of our people, cures to illnesses that have always plag Read more
VA secretary: Some employees are 'going to be fired'
7:24 AM, Feb 23, 2017
Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin pledged Thursday to fire VA workers who need to be fired in order to ensure the troubled agency can deliver on its promise to veterans. "Watch us," Shulkin said in a Fox News interview with Pete Hegseth. "People who don't show up to work, who do cocaine and are watching porn at work are going to be fired, because I'm not going to tolerate it, and they're going to be out of our system." The VA has been criticized heavily over the past few years for only Read more
White House, VA split on anti-Trump tweets
12:01 AM, Feb 23, 2017
A major split has emerged between President Trump's White House and the Department of Veterans Affairs over whether VA employees should be allowed to tweet out anti-Trump messages. The issue has come up as more tweets have emerged in which senior-level VA officials have mocked Trump on Twitter, posted stories that put Trump in a bad light, and compared his victory to the rise of fascism. A senior speechwriter for the VA who remains in the agency under Trump went so far last year to say that af Read more
Whistleblower: VA about to trash hundreds of thousands of veteran applications
7:39 AM, Feb 22, 2017
A whistleblower in the Atlanta office of the Department of Veterans Affairs warned President Trump on Tuesday that the VA is preparing to throw out hundreds of thousands of benefit applications due to an error the VA itself made during the Obama administration. Scott Davis, a well-known whistleblower who has testified before Congress, wrote an open letter to Trump saying that more than 500,000 of these applications might be scuttled in March unless he intervenes. "I am sending this whistleblow Read more
Veterans Affairs official mocking Trump over Twitter
3:06 PM, Feb 17, 2017
A Department of Veterans Affairs official with a job related to public outreach has been regularly mocking President Trump on Twitter, which could raise questions over his ability to keep his job at the VA. Timothy Lawson is a Marine veteran who hosts the department's podcasts , but in recent weeks, he has made fun of Trump over his Twitter feed to his more than 5,000 followers. That could put his job at risk, as some federal workers have already been fired for making public statements in o Read more
Senate unanimously confirms Shulkin as next VA secretary
7:50 PM, Feb 13, 2017
The Senate voted unanimously Monday evening to confirm David Shulkin as the next secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, capping what had been one of the smoothest efforts to fill positions in President Trump's Cabinet to date. Shulkin, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, was confirmed 100-0, following a unanimous vote in the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee to advance his nomination last week. As the VA's former undersecretary for health, Shulkin oversaw the agency's sp Read more
Senate committee votes 15-0 to advance Trump's VA secretary nominee
12:36 PM, Feb 07, 2017
Members of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee voted unanimously on Tuesday to advance David Shulkin's nomination as secretary of veterans affairs, bringing Shulkin one step closer to official confirmation. President Trump tapped Shulkin to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs in January, roughly one week before the inauguration. But Shulkin's confirmation process moved quickly because many lawmakers viewed him as a consensus choice. The Senate VA Committee voted 15-0 on Tuesday to advanc Read more
Trump meets with veterans advocates
12:13 PM, Feb 07, 2017
President Trump met with veterans advocates Tuesday about ways his administration could reform the embattled Department of Veterans Affairs, just hours before his choice to lead the agency, David Shulkin, was set to receive a Senate Veterans Affairs panel vote in favor of his confirmation. Kellyanne Conway, a top adviser to Trump, told reporters outside the White House that the president had a "very productive conversation" with advocates about veterans issues. Conway said veteran care should Read more
David Shulkin, Trump's VA pick, faces uphill battle to keep president's many promises
12:01 AM, Feb 06, 2017
David Shulkin, President Trump's choice to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, faces the unique challenge of overhauling a system he's spent the past two years defending. And with a boss who spent more than a year on the campaign trail shaming VA officials for their recent failures, Shulkin may not have room for error when he tackles problems in one of the largest and most complex organizations in the world. The VA's current undersecretary for health is expected to sail through the confirm Read more
White House: VA wait times still 'unacceptable'
1:32 PM, Feb 03, 2017
Veterans are still facing "unacceptable" delays as they try to receive healthcare from the Department of Veterans Affairs, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Friday. "These are people who have served our nation and deserve the best care that they can get," Spicer said. "There are still wait times that are unacceptable." The VA was rocked in 2014 by the worst scandal in its history when whistleblowers stepped forward and exposed a nationwide scheme to cover up long delays in healthcar Read more
Now is the time to hold VA employees accountable for their failures
7:00 PM, Feb 01, 2017
Nearly three years have passed since we learned that officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs were systematically covering up severe waiting times at their medical facilities. Today, it seems that little has changed. In Phoenix, where the scandal first broke, more than 1,000 veterans are waiting longer than 30 days to see a doctor. And despite veterans' stories of neglect and abuse being headline news for years, fewer than 10 VA employees were ever fired. The first step to fixing th Read more
Lawmakers push to kick cockroaches out of Veterans Affairs kitchens
1:20 PM, Jan 25, 2017
Kitchens in all Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals would have to meet new standards under a new bipartisan bill that was introduced after cockroaches were reported in one VA hospital kitchen in Illinois. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., proposed the legislation after a whistleblower reported last year that the kitchen of a VA hospital in Illinois was infested with cockroaches. The whistleblower said roaches were seen on counters when meals were served. Bost's bill is the Requiring Accountability Read more
In talks with Trump, conservatives make Ryan the scapegoat
03/14/17 12:01 AM
Conservatives ratchet up pressure to ditch Senate rules
03/14/17 12:01 AM
Trump asks public to help fix, cut government, sees billions in savings
03/13/17 04:33 PM
Schools want out of Michelle Obama's lunch rules, kids say 'Yuck'
03/13/17 10:00 AM
Has the VA housecleaning already begun?
12:33 PM, Jan 25, 2017
When Donald Trump nominated David Shulklin to head the Department of Veterans Affairs, veterans' groups were shocked and disappointed . The current VA undersecretary, who served under the business-as-usual tenure of former Secretary Robert McDonald, did not seem like the guy who was going to come in and clean out the Augean stables of an agency and bureaucracy gone horribly wrong. But even now, before his confirmation (which is all but assured), there are already signs that the culture at the Read more
Trump left some of his top issues out of his inaugural address
12:01 AM, Jan 21, 2017
Although President Trump's 16-minute inaugural address was the shortest since 1977, it nevertheless provided insight into the 45th president's immediate priorities and his vision for the country. Trump used his historic speech, which he delivered from the U.S. Capitol's west lawn in a drizzly rain on Friday, to touch on issues from the nation's drug crisis to the plight of single mothers in inner cities. Trump discussed the shortcomings of the education system, the decline of manufacturing and Read more
Trump pledges to end defense sequester, build missile defense system
1:42 PM, Jan 20, 2017
In a policy statement posted to the new administration's White House website, President Trump pledged to end sequestration and called for a "state-of-the-art missile defense system" among his goals for rebuilding the U.S. military and improving services for veterans. "Our military needs every asset at its disposal to defend America. We cannot allow other nations to surpass our military capability," the statement reads. "The Trump Administration will pursue the highest level of military readin Read more
VA adopts new rule covering IVF for wounded vets
11:01 AM, Jan 19, 2017
Wounded veterans have more options to help start a family because of a new Veterans Affairs Department rule adopted on Thursday. The VA now offers in vitro fertilization to veterans who cannot conceive naturally because of injuries sustained in combat. It also offers the treatment to spouses of wounded service members whose injuries make natural procreation impossible. The new rule follows the passage of legislation in Congress three months ago that authorized the action. "For more than two Read more
Rubio renews push to speed up VA firings
2:16 PM, Jan 18, 2017
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced legislation on Tuesday aimed at allowing the Department of Veterans Affairs to make faster decisions to fire or demote corrupt or negligent officials. The VA has been under fire for more than two years now, following the 2014 scandal in which the department was found to be systematically covering up long healthcare wait times. Since then, the VA has fired just a handful of people, while most have been allowed to retire with full benefits. Rubio's VA Account Read more
Serious VA reforms will make our veterans healthier, wealthier — and fewer
11:50 AM, Jan 13, 2017
By naming an insider, Obama appointee Dr. David Shulkin, to head the Department of Veterans Affairs, President-elect Trump suggests he doesn't realize yet how big an overhaul is needed to " Make the VA Great Again ." Shulkin understands that veterans need more choice and more resources, but the added choice he's promising them is small-bore stuff. Offering veterans options outside the VA for obstetrics is great. But our veterans need and deserve a far more sweeping reform. And to fix the pro Read more
Trump's VA pick draws mixed reactions
12:52 AM, Jan 12, 2017
President-elect Trump's decision on Wednesday to nominate David Shulkin, undersecretary for health at the Department of Veterans Affairs, to lead the embattled agency was a move that may have satisfied some of his skeptics — but it left veterans advocates who had hoped for radical change feeling stunned and confused. After dedicating a significant portion of his campaign toward criticism of the VA's recent failures, Trump's choice of a senior VA leader who has participated in some of the very s Read more
Why is Trump promoting someone from within government's most hated federal agency?
1:30 PM, Jan 11, 2017
President-elect Trump announced Wednesday that he intends to promote the Department of Veterans Affairs Under Secretary for Health, David Shulkin, to Secretary of Veterans Affairs in his administration. For someone who campaigned on draining the swamp, it's a surprise that Trump will be promoting someone from within to lead the VA, especially when the VA is the least popular federal agency . Granted, Shulkin took office after the VA scandal broke in 2014. As long as Shulkin plans to implement Read more
Trump taps controversial VA undersecretary to head department
11:33 AM, Jan 11, 2017
President-elect Trump revealed Wednesday he has picked David Shulkin, current undersecretary for health at the Department of Veterans Affairs, to lead the agency under his administration. "We looked long and hard. We interviewed at least 100 people," Trump said at his first press conference since winning the presidency. The announcement came as a surprise after the president-elect spent weeks on his search for a new VA secretary. Shulkin, a controversial figure among critics of the scandal-pla Read more
Holman Rule will help improve civil service
12:01 AM, Jan 09, 2017
As part of its broader package of rules for the 115th Congress, the House of Representatives revived the Holman Rule, a provision that allows House members to propose amendments to spending bills that closely manage federal agencies. These "retrenchment" amendments can affect details down to individual federal salaries and the number of staff in an office. This rule allows Congress not only to eliminate entire programs (although it can do this already) but also to reassign or eliminate federal Read more
VA secretary paints rosy picture of agency in final report
1:12 PM, Jan 05, 2017
Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald on Thursday offered few recommendations for internal reforms and improvements in his final assessment of the agency, even though his agency continues to be plagued with scandals for more than two years. The government's second-largest federal agency has attracted scandal after scandal during President Obama's tenure, including allegations that dozens of veterans died as the department failed to deliver them access to a doctor, and then sy Read more
House votes to end VA scrubbing of employee records
6:01 PM, Jan 03, 2017
House lawmakers opened the 115th Congress with unanimous approval to end the the Veterans Administration practice of scrubbing black marks from employee files, a move supporters say will increase accountability and transparency at the embattled agency. The Ensuring VA Accountability Act would require all reprimands and admonishments to remain in a VA employee's file as long as they work at the department. Under current law, if a VA employee is admonished, black marks are removed from the recor Read more
