WASHINGTON – In the wake of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ decision to ignore current law allowing the department to hold its senior executive accountable for misconduct, U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, today urged his colleagues to cosponsor and vote for the Veterans First Act.

“Given the VA’s decision last week to ignore the current accountability law, it is imperative that the Veterans First Act – which will significantly improve accountability at the VA – be passed and signed into law,” wrote Isakson. “No matter your opinion on the administration’s actions, the result has put VA accountability back at square one.”

The VA announced last week that it would no longer use its expedited removal authority to hold VA senior executives accountable in light of a recent Justice Department decision not to defend a provision of the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 against a constitutional challenge from a VA executive who was fired in the Phoenix wait-list scandal.

The Veterans First Act is the only piece of pending accountability legislation that would withstand the constitutional challenge raised against current VA accountability law. It was passed unanimously by the Senate VA Committee.

“This bill is the only piece of reform legislation moving through Congress today that can withstand the current constitutional scrutiny that the VA relied on in abandoning its expedited firing authority,” continued Isakson. “We in Congress must get a bill to the president’s desk to address these urgent needs. We cannot fail the men and women who served and sacrificed for our nation.”

In addition to accountability reform, the Veterans First Act also makes sweeping improvements to veterans’ health care and benefits, including expanding a VA program that allows seriously injured veterans to receive care in their own homes, enhancing programs for veterans’ mental health care and beginning to address the VA’s massive backlog of veteran disability claims appeals. 

Isakson introduced the Veterans First Act with U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. The Veterans First Act is also cosponsored by U.S. Senators. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., John Boozman, R-Ark., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio., Richard Burr, R-N.C., Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Robert Casey, D-Pa., Dan Coats, R-Ind., Steve Daines, R-Mont., Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Al Franken, D-Minn., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Dean Heller, R-Nev., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, John Hoeven, R-N.D., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Mark Kirk, R-Ill., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., Jerry Moran, R-Kan., Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Patty Murray, D-Wash., Bill Nelson, D-Fla., Rob Portman, R-Ohio., Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Mike Rounds, R-S.D., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, Jon Tester, D-Mont., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Tom Udall, D-N.M., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

The Veterans First Act is also supported by the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Vietnam Veterans of America, Student Veterans of America, Office of Special Counsel, Government Accountability Project, National Association of State Approving Agencies, National Guard Association of the U.S., Veterans Education Success, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), American Veterans (AMVETS), Project on Government Oversight, National Alliance to End Homelessness, National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, Nurses Organization of Veterans Affairs and Military Officers Association of America.

See below for the full text of the letter. Click here for a PDF of the signed version.

June 21, 2016

Dear Colleague:

As the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, I write today to ask you to cosponsor the Veterans First Act and to support bringing this legislation to the full Senate for an up-or-down vote as soon as possible. Given the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) decision last week to begin ignoring current accountability law, it is imperative that this comprehensive legislative package that will significantly improve accountability at the VA be signed into law.  This bipartisan legislation, supported by 44 of your Senate colleagues and a wide array of veterans organizations, will help to fulfill our shared responsibility to ensure all VA employees uphold their obligation to veterans across the nation.

Two years ago, Congress came together to pass the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014. This law gave the VA Secretary the ability to remove poor-performing executives through an expedited process.  The intent of this law was to allow the VA to more swiftly hold bad actors accountable and ensure that the egregious delays in care that happened in Phoenix would never happen again. Unfortunately, on June 2, 2016, the Justice Department announced it will not defend a key portion of these accountability measures from an ongoing Constitutional challenge.  The VA, in turn, announced last week that it will no longer use the expedited firing authority we provided through the Choice Act last Congress. No matter your opinion on the Administration’s actions, the result has put VA accountability back at square one.

The Veterans First Act strengthens accountability for employees at all levels of the VA without raising the Constitutional challenge now impeding current law. It creates an expedited process for removing any rank-and-file employee based on performance or misconduct by compressing both the front- and back-end of the removal process and ensuring that employees are not receiving pay or benefits while they appeal a removal decision. For senior executives at VA, it will provide the Secretary with greater authority to discipline underperforming bureaucrats -- including removing them from their jobs -- without allowing those decisions to be second-guessed by another federal entity. It will prevent employees who engage in certain misconduct from receiving bonuses; promote the protection of whistleblowers; reduce the pensions of senior executives who commit certain crimes; and limit the amount of paid administrative leave for employees who are the subject of an investigation or a proposed disciplinary action. And, to ensure that all of these and other tools are being well used, it will create an Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection to handle all matters throughout VA relating to accountability and whistleblower protection. With the VA now using only the accountability authorities that proved inadequate in the past, the need for these reforms is more urgent than ever.

This is the only piece of reform legislation moving through Congress today that can withstand the current Constitutional scrutiny that the VA relied on in abandoning its expedited firing authority.  The bill passed the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee by a unanimous vote, and I urge you to put veterans first by cosponsoring this legislation and consenting to it being brought to the Senate floor for an up-or-down vote as soon as possible.  We in Congress must get a bill to the President’s desk to address these urgent needs – we cannot fail the men and women who served and sacrificed for our nation. 

Sincerely,

Johnny Isakson

Chairman

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The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs is chaired by U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., in the 114th Congress.

Isakson is a veteran himself – having served in the Georgia Air National Guard from 1966-1972 – and has been a member of the Senate VA Committee since he joined the Senate in 2005. Isakson’s home state of Georgia is home to more than a dozen military installations representing each branch of the military as well as more than 750,000 veterans.