We’ve got a world-class double header for you today. At 10 a.m. On Your Turn, a top federal employment lawyer will talk about what feds should know when their agencies are being investigated. Very timely stuff!

As icing on the cake she will be followed — on radio and then an online chat — by OPM Director Katherine Archuleta with the latest on what’s happening inside government. At 10:30 a.m. we’ll be talking with Archuleta about the state of the civil service, where it’s going, including the status of the retirement-claims backlog and the pending phased-retirement program.

Immediately following the show at 11 a.m., we’ll have a webchat where you can ask the Director your questions. For details and to register, click here

VA investigation continues

Although the what-did-you-know-and-when-did-you-know-it? investigation at the Veterans Affairs Department is far from over, lots of people know (or think they know) pretty much what happened.

As in: Some, maybe lots, of executives, managers and employees in some, maybe lots, of VA hospitals and facilities cooked the appointment books. They had one set which showed they were giving deserving (and some very old and very sick) vets excellent and timely service. The other set showed how things really were, maybe still are. That some people waited for treatment weeks (and months) in some cases. That maybe some people who shouldn’t have died, died.

Republicans are quick to point out this happened on President Obama’s watch. Democrats say this is nothing new, that it goes back to the Bush years and beyond. None of the people who control the VA’s purse-strings is saying why, if it was so broke and everybody knew it, nobody fixed it.

Some civilian-to-the-bone politicians are demanding the resignation of Eric Shenseki, an Army combat veteran, retired general and head of the VA. Others are sneering at Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel who, by the way, was in the jungles of Vietnam while many of the current crop in Congress were in grade, or grad school, or doing their junior year in Europe.

Whatever happens, Hagel and Shinseki will survive with a lot of friends and admirers. Both have good pensions and would be much in demand in nonfederal jobs.

For VA managers and some of their employees, the outcome may not be so good. One about-to-retire-anyhow official has been “forced” to resign. How many others will there be? How many others should there be? What should employees who get caught up in the investigation expect? What should they do?

Find out what Deborah Roth thinks about the VA situation and what feds, in any agency, can expect when the going gets tough today at 10 a.m. on Your Turn. She’s a top federal employment attorney (Shaw, Bransford & Roth) and has been through many investigations and handled lots of very heavy cases. Her take on the situation should be worthwhile.

NEARLY USELESS FACTOID

Compiled by Jack Moore

The average Nestle Crunch bar contains about 400 grains of puffed rice.

(Source: Food Network’s Unwrapped)

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