Veterans Affairs
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Both the Government Accountability Office and the department's inspector general say leadership at the Veterans Affairs Department is committed to removing VA health care from GAO's High-Risk List. But they've seen little concrete action beyond VA's promises of commitment.
February 20, 2017 -
The Veterans Benefits Administration sees progress with the National Work Queue, the automatic workload system that assigns a veteran's claim to the regional office that has the most capacity to immediately begin work. But Congress is concerned the NW Queue creates unnecessary confusion and can't address the growing backlog of veterans claims.
February 17, 2017 -
A recent Government Accountability Office report on the Veterans Affairs Department and its employees' use of official time is renewing a debate among lawmakers: Does official time have a place within agency operations, and how much time is too much?
February 16, 2017 -
Agencies are under obligation to keep track of official hours. But the Veterans Affairs Department is having trouble doing that.
February 13, 2017 -
The Government Accountability Office had some hard truths for the Veterans Affairs Department, which has failed to produce more modern, interoperable IT systems after years of failed pilots and heated congressional hearings. GAO says VA should drop its plans to modernize VistA and find a commercial option instead.
February 07, 2017 -
Congress changed retention rules for future DoD layoffs, downgrading veterans preference and putting performance ratings in first place. Sounds good? It depends, says Senior Correspondent Mike Causey.
February 07, 2017 -
David Shulkin, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Veterans Affairs Department, earned high praise from the Senate committee during his nomination hearing. Changing the department's current Veterans Choice Program and crafting new accountability and disciplinary procedures for VA employees were common topics.
February 02, 2017 -
Rob Snyder, the acting secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department, officially exempts some health care, construction and project management professionals from the President's short-term hiring freeze. Snyder's announcement comes after repeated appeals from some lawmakers, who said the freeze could impact veterans' ability to access health care.
January 27, 2017 -
Defense legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama in December will reverse decades-old mistake of tax withholding from veterans with combat-related disabilities.
January 13, 2017 -
Roger Waldron, president of the Coalition for Government Procurement, discusses a critical issue driving unnecessary costs and other inefficiencies in the government’s purchase of products, including pharmaceuticals.
January 13, 2017 -
Veterans service organizations and the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents roughly 230,000 employees at the Veterans Affairs Department, say the President-elect's nominee to lead the agency is a pleasant surprise. Dr. David Shulkin, the current VA undersecretary for health, should give the agency some continuity during the transition, they said.
January 12, 2017 -
President-elect Donald Trump says his choice for VA secretary is David Shulkin, who is currently the department's undersecretary for health.
January 11, 2017 -
In today's Top Federal Headlines, the Veterans Affairs Department's Inspector General says the agency needs more oversight of its recruitment, relocation, and retainment incentives.
January 10, 2017 -
Two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, the Obama administration has highlighted some of the management milestones it's achieved over the last eight years.
January 05, 2017 -
In today's Top Federal Headlines, Ellen Stofan says she is leaving her post at NASA after five years for "new adventures."
December 30, 2016