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 Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act aims to fix that problem. Its most dramatic change is a 77-day cap on the length of time it can take to finally demote or remove a VA official.
Rubio proposed similar legislation last year, when he said that change is one of many that must be made in order to bring accountability to the “broken and incompetent” VA.
“To make real progress in fixing the VA, we need to tackle the first problem plaguing the VA, which is the lack of accountability among employees,” he said. “It is simply unacceptable that it can take years to fire one employee for poor management or misconduct.”
The bill would also let the VA recoup bonuses, relocation expenses and pensions of senior officials who are convicted of felonies that affected their job performance. Critics of the VA have said the department continues to pay out huge bonuses and other awards, even to officials involved in the healthcare wait-time scandal.
Elsewhere, it would eliminate all VA bonuses for five years, and reform the process employees now have to appeal decisions to the Merit Systems Protection Board, which has been accused of being too willing to defend VA workers.
Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., are cosponsors of his new bill.
Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., introduced a House version of the bill this week.
“I am happy to partner with Senator Marco Rubio on this vital piece of legislation,” Lamborn said. “Holding the VA accountable has been a top priority throughout my tenure in Congress, and it is past time to get these reform efforts across the finish line and passed into law. After three years of witnessing systemic abuse — including falsified waitlists, whistleblower retaliation, and abysmal patient care — this bill will provide real accountability and culture change at the VA.”
