Congress passed a bill to hold VA employees accountable and Trump has now signed it, marking the biggest legislation he’s signed thus far this year:
Pres. Trump signs bill to make it easier to fire Veterans Affairs employees for misconduct https://t.co/8lGNC5A376 https://t.co/Ee4hxoHyfV
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) June 23, 2017
Here’s more on the new VA bill:
USA TODAY – President Trump signed legislation Friday designed to protect whistleblowers while making it easier to fire problem employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The “VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017” makes permanent an office created by a Trump executive order earlier this year to look into claims made by whistleblowers and to protect them from retaliation.
It also shortens the timeframes allowed for employee appeals of disciplinary actions and mandates that courts reviewing the actions uphold them if there is “substantial evidence” they are warranted.
Trump referenced the VA wait time scandal in 2014, when veterans died waiting for appointments, and some VA workers who put them on secret wait lists weren’t disciplined because of federal employment laws.
“What happened was a national disgrace, and yet some of the employees involved in these scandals remained on the payrolls,” he said. “Today, we are finally changing those laws.”
The new law also gets rid of senior executives’ right to appeal to the MSPB but replaces that process with an internal VA grievance procedure.
The legislation also allows the VA to take back bonuses paid to employees found guilty of misconduct and prohibits employees who are appealing discipline from being placed on paid administrative leave.
Here’s a short excerpt and a couple of clips from Trump’s speech:
.@realDonaldTrump: "Today we are taking a very historic action to transform the VA." pic.twitter.com/wQTOD2OaF6
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 23, 2017
President Trump jokes to VA Sec. David Shulkin: "You're fired" if new bill is not "properly implemented" https://t.co/1f2Q6HkSEN
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 23, 2017
President Trump pauses speech to shake hand of vet who lost limbs: "He gets up better than I do" https://t.co/x6LcuF5tL1
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 23, 2017