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In today's Federal Newscast, a new report from the Veterans Affairs Department's inspector general finds VBA improperly processed and denied some 1,300 military sexual trauma claims in 2017.
Preparations for a new appeals process at the Veterans Benefits Administration are two-thirds of the way complete, but IT upgrades have fallen behind.
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The Veterans Affairs Department says it's also eliminated 235 expired directives and 85 percent of outdated manuals in effort to cut red tape.
Employees say the Veterans Affairs Department's interpretation of the Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act doesn't give them enough time to improve performance.
The Veterans Affairs Department has about a year to get its appeals process off the ground. Congress and GAO are concerned VA doesn't have the tools ready to meet that deadline.
Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin is launching a veterans benefit advisory board to begin a strategic review of the many and diverse programs VA currently offers.
The National Archives also issued a memo clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the Senior Agency Official for Records Management.
The Veterans Benefits Administration sees progress with the National Work Queue, the automatic workload system that assigns a veteran's claim to the regional office that has the most capacity to immediately begin work. But Congress is concerned the NW Queue creates unnecessary confusion and can't address the growing backlog of veterans claims.
Danny Pummill, the acting undersecretary for benefits at the Veterans Affairs Department, is retiring, the agency announced June 16. Pummill had delayed his retirement to step into the role of acting undersecretary when the previous benefits director suddenly resigned last October.
Following an investigation by VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson, the agency is recommending a combination of reduced pay and suspension for four VA leaders involved in relocation “impropriety.”
Top officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs will meet this week with leaders from several leading veterans’ service organizations, seeking common ground on a legislative proposal that would overhaul the appeals process for veterans’ compensation claims.
Lawmakers cringed at the price expansion and lack of tangible goals associated with the Veterans Benefits Management System.
The nominee for the Office of Inspector General for Veterans Affairs is set to appear Nov. 17 before a Senate committee to answer questions and talk about the oversight role.