During his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump played up legislation passed in 2017 to bring accountability to the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA).
“We passed V.A. accountability so that we can finally terminate those who mistreat our wonderful veterans,” Trump announced.
“He is absolutely right,” said Curt Cashour, press secretary for the VA. Cashour also provided numbers to support that assertion:
In calendar year 2016, VA fired 2,001 people.
In calendar year 2017, VA fired 2,537 people.
From Jan. 2018 through Nov. 2018, VA fired 2,889 people.
Cashour continued:
Additionally, the law is speeding up the disciplinary process for employees who fail to live up to the high standards Veterans and taxpayers have earned.
Prior to the implementation of the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, VA management generally had a minimum of 30 calendar days between the issuance of a proposal and the effective date of the action, and there was no maximum timeframe during which a decision had to be issued.
Now, the law requires that a decision notice must be issued within 15 business days after the issuance of the proposal notice, and VA leadership expects this statutory requirement to be met.
VA whistleblowers who spoke with The Daily Caller disagreed, arguing little has changed since the scandal broke in 2014.
Jay DeNofrio — Altoona, Pennsylvania VA
James DeNofrio is a whistleblower at the Altoona VA in Pennsylvania and tweeted this out shortly after the speech concluded.
https://dailycaller.com/2019/02/07/va-whistleblowers-accountability-act/?utm_medium=push&utm_source=daily_caller&utm_campaign=push