Lawmakers are renewing calls to hold Department of Veterans Affairs officials accountable for misconduct after two VA employees refused to answer questions during a congressional hearing Monday evening.
Kimberly Graves and Diana Rubens had both received subpoenas to appear before the House Veterans Affairs Committee Monday, where they both invoked their Fifth Amendment rights when questioned about alleged abuse of a VA program that compensates employees for transferring locations.
Both Rubens and Graves could still be called back before the committee. An aide told the Washington Examiner the panel is in the process of deciding its next move.
Rep. Jeff Miller, chairman of the House VA committee, said in his final statements that the panel may still call Allison Hickey, the VA’s former top benefits official, to appear for questioning.
Hickey’s name was listed on the witness list, but she did not attend the hearing.
Hickey resigned in mid-October amid backlash over the inspector general report that uncovered the relocation fraud.
Sen. Johnny Isakson, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, said the hearing Monday offered further proof of the need to crack down on misconduct within the VA.
“As Acting Under Secretary for Benefits Danny Pummill said himself last night, it is ‘almost impossible’ to hold certain employees accountable at the Department of Veterans Affairs,” Isakson told the Examiner. “Veterans deserve better than what happened at the Veterans Benefits Administration, but the fact is, the VA cannot prevent similar situations from happening without holding bad actors accountable.”
The Georgia Republican said his committee plans to work on VA policies that will prevent similar fraud from resurfacing.
Critics on both sides of the aisle have blasted the VA for maintaining policies that seemingly shield employees from punishment.
However, whistleblowers have faced fierce retaliation for reporting wrongdoing — including from the agency’s own inspector general. The VA watchdog stepped down under pressure in June and was permanently replaced last month.
Miller raised questions about the inspector general’s collaboration with the VA during the hearing Monday.
“The VA office of inspector general goes back and forth and negotiates with the VA as to the final report,” he said. “I don’t understand how that process evolved, but obviously it has, over the years, so I guess that’s why it’s very easy, once the report comes out, the department signs off with all the recommendations because they already knew what the recommendations were going to be before they got the copy of the report.”
Inspectors general are supposed to operate completely independent of the agencies they oversee. The previous VA watchdog resigned in part over allegations that he withheld damaging information from inspector general reports in an effort to protect the VA.
Rep. Frank Guinta, R-N.H., introduced a bill Tuesday that would strengthen protections VA for whistleblowers and expand veterans’ access to private care.
“This is why a large majority of Americans don’t trust their government,” Guinta said to the Examiner of the hearing Monday evening. “Federal agencies have become the personal fiefdoms of permanent bureaucrats, who in this case refuse to resign as common decency dictates. And plead the Fifth to avoid telling the truth.”
Guinta said the problem is “especially bad” within the VA, “where we can count the fatalities as a result.”
“The bill I introduced today would create a probationary period for new employees and speed the firing process for those who flout the law. It would allow vets to escape the VA’s broken system,” he added.
Rubens had been accused of creating a position for herself in Philadelphia and then accepting it, netting more than $274,000 in moving expenses through the VA’s relocation program.
Graves allegedly created a job opening in St. Paul by pressuring another VA employee to transfer, billing the VA for nearly $130,000.
Both employees retained their six-figure salaries despite taking on positions that entailed far fewer responsibilities than their previous jobs in what lawmakers have called a “shockingly unethical” abuse of taxpayer funds.
