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In today's Federal Newscast, the Department of Veterans Affairs was forced to change how it pays for veterans' education benefits after IT problems.
New Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie addressed Congress for the first time since his confirmation about 60 days ago.
The president's nominees for the Veterans Affairs Department's chief information officer and accountability and whistleblower protection director promised they would spark a long-awaited culture change at the agency.
The new Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie said several new people will be taking top-level leadership positions at the agency shortly. Pamela Powers will be the department's new chief of staff and Chris Syrek will be VA's deputy chief of staff.
President Donald Trump plans to nominate James Gfrerer to be the next assistant secretary for information and technology and CIO at VA.
Robert Wilkie, the president's nominee for secretary of Veterans Affairs, said he would faithfully implement the VA MISSION Act, but oppose efforts to fully-privatize VA health care.
Senate Veterans Affairs Ranking Member Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and three other senators are asking the VA inspector general to review the department's implementation of the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act.
The Veterans Benefits Administration is reverting to previous performance management guidelines, which the American Federation of Government Employees says it too "chaotic."
The Veterans Affairs Department says it's also eliminated 235 expired directives and 85 percent of outdated manuals in effort to cut red tape.
Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin gave a progress report on a wide range of initiatives. He told the Senate VA Committee that the department is still making "incremental change" on hiring, appeals modernization, accountability and a new electronic health record.
The Veterans Affairs Department is expected to run out of funding in the VA Choice Program by the end of 2017. VA Secretary David Shulkin called on lawmakers to find some solution by year-end, even if it's a temporary one.
The Veterans Affairs Department indicated more key announcements are coming soon about the next steps for its major electronic health record project.
The Veterans Affairs Department said it's having trouble meeting its hiring goal of 1,000 new mental health professionals by the end of the year.
Restoring veterans' trust and mending gaps between the department's headquarters and its employees in the field are top priorities for Tom Bowman, the president's nominee to be the deputy VA secretary.