Department of Veterans Affairs
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Veterans Affairs Department employees are now answering 99.8 percent of veterans' calls to the VA crisis hotline, and fewer than 1 percent of those calls are rolling over to backup centers. But the VA Inspector General and lawmakers still see some troubling challenges.
April 05, 2017 -
Modernization can mean a lot of things, even if you keep your COBOL systems.
April 04, 2017 -
The Office of Personnel Management recently released a long-awaited report on official time for fiscal 2014. It found agencies used slightly more official time that year than fiscal 2012, the last time OPM completed a governmentwide report on the topic. The report's release comes as Congress looks to limit federal employees' official time use.
March 27, 2017 -
The Defense Department also weighed in with some Medal of Honor stories, including that of the only female recipient, a doctor in the Civil War.
March 27, 2017 -
Nation Analytics founder Brian Friel and Larry Allen, president of Allen Federal business Partners, join host Mark Amtower on this week's Amtower Off Center to discuss the state of the contracting landscape. March 27, 2017
March 26, 2017 -
Veterans groups want a 10 percent overall budget increase for VA, more staffing and updated facilities to meet today's healthcare needs.
March 24, 2017 -
The Veterans Affairs Department, Congress and Government Accountability Office all agree: an outdated and inflexible hiring process and serious shortcomings with the department's human resources functions are prohibiting the agency from quickly filling at least 45,000 open health care positions.
March 22, 2017 -
A new bill that would limit how much time doctors, nurses and other employees at the Veterans Affairs Department could spend on union business has support now from VA itself. The department said having its employees spend 100 percent of their hours on official time is "necessary, reasonable and in the public's best interest."
March 22, 2017 -
Veterans groups are calling for an 8.3 percent increase in medical funding for the Veterans Health Administration and a 10 percent overall increase for the Department of Veterans Affairs next year. Carlos Fuentes, legislative director for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to provide details on 'independent budget' recommendations and others.
March 22, 2017 -
Employees who handle veterans benefits claims and the disability claims backlog, as well as some cybersecurity professionals, are among the Veterans Affairs Department's additional hiring freeze exemptions. VA Secretary David Shulkin announced more exemptions in a March 13 memo to staff.
March 20, 2017 -
The Veterans Choice Act provides VA with the opportunity to redefine what its role will be in 10 years.
March 17, 2017 -
The Government Accountability Office is questioning whether the right people, skills and leadership were devoted to the Veterans Affairs Department's past efforts to remove VA healthcare from the High-Risk List. But current VA leadership insisted it's paying attention and asked for patience as it continues to transform the department.
March 15, 2017 -
Official time has been a hot topic for House lawmakers this week. A new bill would limit official time for all employees at the Veterans Affairs Department and would set special limits for doctors and other workers involved in direct patient care.
March 10, 2017 -
If the 114th Congress was about dissecting the Veterans Affairs Department's challenges, then the 115th Congress will act quickly to solve them, leadership on the House Veterans Affairs Committee said.
March 09, 2017 -
Do you need to create an estate plan? If so how do they work? Find out this week on Your Turn when attorney Tom O'Rourke joins host Mike Causey. March 8, 2017
March 07, 2017