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Negotiations between the House and Senate VA committees over a new veterans omnibus have stalled, as the Veterans Affairs Department releases more details in its plan to change accountability procedures for its senior executives.
As the government prepares for another presidential transition, administration officials say it's important to build on the progress that's been made on agency accountability.
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Administrator Howard Shelanski defended his office against claims from House Oversight and Government Reform Committee members that OIRA doesn't do enough to communicate with other agencies and with the general public.
Senior leaders at the Veterans Affairs Department say the bill that was supposed to help them hold agency senior executives more accountable isn't working. Agency leaders are considering changes to the VA Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 (Choice Act).
The House Veterans Affairs Committee came down hard on the steps VA has taken so far to hold its employees accountable for misconduct. Deputy VA Secretary Sloan Gibson said the department is putting employees on detail rather than paid administrative leave, while the VA finishes a disciplinary investigation.
The measure would preserve VA employees' rights to appeal disciplinary decisions, while shortening the appeals process. VA leaders says they do not need another law, while the White House has threatened to veto the bill out of concern for employees' due process rights.
Members of AFGE Local 17 detail allegations that union members have levied against their supervisors in a report to Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald.
Just when Congress is considering tougher penalties for Veterans Affairs employees engaged in misconduct, the Senior Executives Association and the Federal Managers Association have asked lawmakers to investigate a "hit list" created by the American Federation of Government Employees, VA's largest labor union.
VA Accountability Act of 2015, would extend the probationary period for new employees to at least 18 months from the current 12. All employees would have a shorter window in which to appeal their firing or demotion.
A new survey shows just how jittery Senior Executive Service members are following a landmark law targeting SES members in the Veterans Affairs Department. When asked about at-will employment, SES members questioned their choice of careers and said they would not recommend it to others.
Does the federal government hold members of the Senior Executive Service accountable for their actions? In part three of Federal News Radio's special report, Fixing the SES, current and former senior executives respond candidly to the criticism.
Fewer than half of the Senior Executive Service members who responded to an exclusive Federal News Radio online survey say they would join today. The survey results were even more dim for federal employees at the GS-15 and GS-14 ranks. In the first of our four-part special report, Fixing the SES, we examine how current senior execs feel about the SES, and what they believe is right and wrong with the service.
House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller wants new ways to punish SES members accused of misconduct, including possible pension reductions, limits on paid leave. He also wants to curtail VA's bonus award system.
The Energy secretary is shaking up the department to improve accountability. Project managers will assume more responsibility and face harsher consequences if they fail to meet major targets. Some contractors already have felt the difference, and it isn't pretty.