Veterans Affairs
-
Most of the attention focused on the Veterans Affairs Department in the last couple of years has had to do with firing people. Giving VA more flexibility to demote or get rid of people who perform poorly. But now a bill looks at something a little more positive: how to recruit and hire top talent at VA. Tim McManus, the vice president for education at the Partnership for Public Service has studied the bill, and joins Federal Drive with Tom Temin with analysis of H.R. 5526.
June 22, 2016 -
The Veterans Affairs Department says it’s earning back trust and confidence from the veterans it serves, and employee engagement within the department is also improving. This comes roughly 10 days before the VA Commission on Care is expected to pitch a major overhaul to the department’s health care and personnel systems.
June 21, 2016 -
Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald says Congress needs to support the agency through reform legislation and full funding if lawmakers want to see the transformation so many of them are calling for.
June 20, 2016 -
A recent decision from the Justice Department is prompting the VA to stop using the authority it has under current legislation to fire senior executives more quickly. The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee said the news comes after an inquiry over whether the VA planned to make any policy changes after the DOJ decision, which ultimately ruled that a key provision in the VA Choice Act is unconstitutional.
June 17, 2016 -
Danny Pummill, the acting undersecretary for benefits at the Veterans Affairs Department, is retiring, the agency announced June 16. Pummill had delayed his retirement to step into the role of acting undersecretary when the previous benefits director suddenly resigned last October.
June 16, 2016 -
Some documents related to veterans' disability claims are getting thrown out at Veterans Affairs regional offices, but the VA and its inspector general disagree whether the problem is a systemic issue or one that can be explained by human error.
June 15, 2016 -
The Interior Department's Office of Inspector General says the National Park Service is not properly handling employee mismanagement related to dozens of sexual harassment complaints, ethics violations and procurement misconduct.
June 14, 2016 -
The Army is deliberating how to handle non-deployable soldiers while studying soldiers' brain function and performance in the field.
June 10, 2016 -
The congressionally-appointed VA Commission on Care suggested a major overhaul to the Veterans Health Administration. According to the commission's draft report, due to Congress by the end of the month, VHA employees should have their own personnel system.
June 09, 2016 -
The Veterans Affairs Department officially fired three more senior leaders at the Phoenix VA Health Care System, the hospital where reports of wait time manipulation first started two years ago. Two of the three VA executives can appeal their removals to the Merit Systems Protection Board.
June 08, 2016 -
The Justice Department says a specific provision in the Veterans Choice Act, which ultimately renders that the disciplinary decision from administration MSPB judge is final for certain senior executives, violates a clause in the Constitution. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch says Justice will continue to uphold vast majority of the Choice Act.
June 03, 2016 -
The acquisition shop at the Veterans Affairs Department released 10 guiding principles to better buy products and services. While vendors are relatively optimistic about the VA's new approach, they're concerned whether contracting officers in the field are embracing those principles.
June 02, 2016 -
One congressman and the Veterans Affairs Department's number two both suggested the VA doesn't need another policy or rule to help the agency turn around years of mismanagement and a "culture of fear" at some medical centers.
May 31, 2016 -
TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger yanked Kelly Hoggan from the job as assistant administrator for the Office of Security Operations. But Neffenger says he wants to use Hoggan's talents somewhere else in the agency.
May 25, 2016 -
The Senate is still debating whether it should overhaul current programs at the Veterans Affairs Department that give veterans access to private health care or revise certain pieces of it. At the same time, the VA said it's close on finalizing a new appeals process, but the committee is concerned the VA's plan does little to address the current backlog of 450,000 unresolved claims.
May 25, 2016