Department of Veterans Affairs
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The Veterans Affairs Department, Congress and Government Accountability Office all agree: an outdated and inflexible hiring process and serious shortcomings with the department's human resources functions are prohibiting the agency from quickly filling at least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 -
Some advocates of the House Veterans Affairs Committee's new employee accountability bill say it's different enough from previous attempts to tackle this issue and should assuage past concerns. But others fear the legislation revives familiar worries.
March 03, 2017 -
An extension and then redesign of the Veterans Choice Program, along with new employee accountability legislation, are top priorities for new Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin. He said he's working with Congress on new legislation to support those initiatives.
February 28, 2017 -
Last year, after a long gap, the Veterans Affairs Department got a permanent inspector general. Federal Drive with Tom Temin interviews the VA's new IG, Michael Missal, about the Veterans Choice Act and how the department responded when Congress updated it.
February 28, 2017 This week on Federal Tech Talk, host John Gilroy speaks with Blake Hall, founder & CEO of ID.me; Emily Tavoulareas, VA Digital Service, and Greg Gershman, co-founder/principal at Ad Hoc LLC. They will discuss a website called “vets.gov” and how it opens up the world of collaboration in solving many issues with funneling 500 Department of Veterans’ Affairs websites into one portal. February 28, 2017
February 27, 2017-
Linda Springer, a former OMB and OPM appointee, is serving as the senior advisor to the director for management.
February 27, 2017 -
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